The collapse of eternal cycle
by Kurogems1208
Summary: "Knowledge is power" and "With great power comes great responsibility". That's what he believes. And because of it, his life is no matter, as long as they live. SI-OC.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello everyone to the new story! This time, we will return to the past of my main OC, when he didn't have any of his power. Although, it's not entirely focus on his POV, instead it's of the others.**

**And to not be confused:**

"Japanese"

"_English_"

"SHOUTING IN JAPANESE"

"_SHOUTING IN ENGLISH"_

'Thinking, both languages depends on who's thinking'

**Important details.**

**I think that's enough for now. Let's get to the first chapter of the new story!**

* * *

"N…No…NO!" The girl shouts in desperation, as the bucket in her hand drops to the ground, giving out a sickening echo in the girl's lavatory. What presents in front of her is the worst nightmare of her life: her closest friend, Seiko Shinohara, is swinging back and forth slowly in her noose, with her eyes devoid of life. Stepping two steps back, Naomi Nakashima falls on her knees, her hands hugging her head as she shakes it left and right, disbelieving the scene before her. "NOOOOOOOOOOO!"

"WHY? *SOB* WHY WOULD YOU HANG YOURSELF!? YOU WERE SMILING AND LAUGHING ALL THIS TIME, AND YOU SAID WE WOULD FIND A WAY OUT OF THIS PLACE TOGETHER! DON'T LEAVE ME LIKE THAT!"

The girl screams from the bottom of her lung, unable to do anything else but crying over her friend's suicide. Everything they have done so far, everything they have promised each other, now turns into oblivion. All she could see now, is death. Death, of her friend.

"THIS…THIS CAN'T BE… THIS IS JUST A NIGHTMARE… PLEASE, TALK TO ME…" The girl whimpers loudly, not daring to look again into her friend…

Then, a burning sensation appears in her throat, causing her to cough violently. She grabs her neck with both her hands, trying to throw up, thinking something just caught into her mouth. However, nothing comes out, and the sensation gets worse and worse. She screams for help, but no one is around. She pushes herself back, stopped at the wall while throwing her legs up, feeling helpless at the moment. She shouts one last time: "SOMEBODY, PLEASE! HELP…"

"_WOULD YOU SHUT UP PLEASE?_" Suddenly, a force hit her forehead, render her unconscious.

* * *

…

"…"

"SHE DIDN'T KNOW!"

"HOW COULD YOU SAY SO? SHE MUST KNOW SOMETHING!"

"…"

"I HAVE THE ANSWER! JUST WAIT!"

"HERE SHE COMES!"

* * *

"Urgh…" Naomi grunts, as she opens her eyes to see a broken ceiling. A familiar broken ceiling. "Wha… am I… in the infirmary?" She sits up and looks down, to see a red hoodie covering her body, as she's lying on the infirmary bed. "When… did I return here?"

"NAOMI!" Someone shouts and runs to her, as she turns to her left, and the person just hugs her tightly, gripping her like she's going to run away. "I'm so scared, Naomi! I thought… I thought… you are… WOAH!" The girl starts crying on her shoulder, and she feels the tears dropping on her uniform.

And hers start flowing out as well, when she hears the voice of the person. She slowly pushes the person out just a little bit just to see who is talking to her. "… S… SEIKO?"

"YOU RECOGNIZED ME!" The person she saw dead is now hugging her again. "YOU RECOGNIZED ME! YOU RECOGNIZED ME…" She repeats, again and again, both in fear and relief.

"S…SEIKO!" Naomi returns the hug and shouts her friend's name, both are crying in each other's arms, as they don't want to leave each other again… not again…

After a few minutes, Seiko releases the hug, as she wipes out the tears with her right arm. "I… I was so scared, Naomi! You suddenly did that to me, and I thought I was a goner!"

"…" The girl before Naomi is pretty much alive, although her skin is a bit paler. And she notices a line around Seiko's neck… and the memory returns. "…S…Seiko?"

"Uh huh?" Seiko asks back, her smile flashes before her.

"…I… I saw you… I… you were… dead…" Naomi's words is stuck in her throat, as she can't comprehend what she just saw.

"…**So he really told the truth. You didn't know at all.**" Seiko's smile drops.

"…What… He?" He? Who is she talking about?

"Naomi… you didn't remember… **remember that you hang me up?**"

"!" WHY DID SHE ASK SUCH QUESTION? "I WOULD NEVER DO THAT! WHY WOULD I DO THAT?"

"…" Seiko bites her lower lip, as she registers her words… then, she says: "It's best to show you. Can you stand?"

Leaving Seiko's arms, Naomi grabs the hoodie and puts her feet on the cold floor, making her shiver a bit. The pain in her ankle somehow has been lessened. Then, she notices her shoes, and she grabs it and starts wearing them on. Seiko has left the beds and walks to a clear space in the infirmary, and Naomi follows her out. Once the curtain's out of her view, she could see the main area of the infirmary, with the candle from before being moved to the middle of the room, with a guy sitting next to it while examining his camera. He then notices Seiko and Naomi exiting from the beds as he greets: "Hey, miss Shinohara. Your friend is awake, I see."

"Yeah. Oh and Naomi, the hoodie is his." Seiko says, gesturing to the hoodie in her hand.

"Oh?" Naomi walks towards him and return his item. "Thanks for giving it to me, mister…"

"Shougo Taguchi, a cameraman… Pleasure to meet you… you didn't look so scary now…" The guy nervously says, clearly not wanting to speak much to her.

"Hey, Taguchi." Seiko asks. "Can you open that video again?"

That sends him over the edge. "What? Are you sure?"

She sighs. "Sorry, but only after that, could we explain about what she remembered."

"…If…If you insist." The cameraman starts pressing on his camera, and gives it to Seiko. The girl then shows the clip to her friend, when… Naomi tried to hang Seiko up.

"!" Naomi backs away from the camera. "NO….NO!"

"Naomi!" Dropping the camera down, quickly but carefully, Seiko grabs on Naomi's arms, preventing her from running away. "Listen! That wasn't you back then! You were possessed by the ghosts there!"

"I… I tried to…" Seiko's words haven't managed to reach to her ears, and Naomi's mind is starting to shut down, unexpected at the clip.

"NAOMI!" Seiko starts to shake the girl violently, and after about ten seconds, she succeeds in snapping Naomi out of her shocked state. "I didn't blame you! That was the ghosts' faults, not yours!"

"…" Naomi is still surprised at that. Her eyes are showing fear.

"It's true." Taguchi catches Naomi's attention. "I thought you were doing so as well. But with how you're acting right now, I guess you really didn't know what you have done… well, what you were being controlled to do."

"… So you know that?"

"Well, I don't. **But he does.**" Taguchi points his thumb towards the exit of the infirmary as he grabs his camera and puts it in his pocket.

Naomi walks slowly to the candle and turns her head to the right… Right at a wall next to the exit door, a person is sitting on the floor, leaning on the wall with his head hanging down, his knees are blocking the face. Because of that, she could only see his short black hair, and parts of his clothes being a black coat that's designed to wear in winter, black trousers and shoes. His arms are putting on the knees, and Naomi could see his right hand being covered in blood. She then notices a pair of scissors in his right, and a bloody bag in his left.

"He's the one saving us all, you know." Taguchi says. "Against that zombie man and the ghost lady…"

"Zombie man? Ghost lady?" Naomi asks, unaware of the mentioned.

"Yeah, you wouldn't know." Seiko says. "He managed to protect me before that ghost lady killed me and you… and **he knows what's going on in this place**."

"…He does?" Naomi asks in surprise.

"Well… at least, that's from Taguchi **translating his words.**"

"Huh?" Naomi is confused.

Taguchi replies: "**Unfortunately he doesn't know Japanese.** But, it's lucky he could spell our names right, and pick up some words to use."

Naomi turns back to the person, to see his head slightly move up and down, but only because of the steady breathing. Then she asks: "Do you know his name?"

"Eh… that's the thing. **He refused to say his name**." Seiko answers.

"… He's not from Japan, right?"

"He is not." Now that makes sense.

"Have you asked him anything yet?" Naomi asks in wonder.

"It seems he didn't want to talk, yet." Taguchi confirms. "Foul mood, maybe."

"…Was there anyone with him?" That's a good question.

"…Now you say it…" Taguchi remembers. "The first thing he asked me was to help him saving you girls. He didn't ask anything else after that. And even before the Ghost lady appeared, he just told me to wait here and… *gulp* himself going out and examining the corpse on the wall."

"EW!" Naomi cringes in disgust. "Why did he do so?"

"Well it's…" A knocking sound interrupts their conversation, as they turn to see the person, who has awaken, raising his left index finger before his lips, signaling to stop speaking, and now Naomi could see him wearing glasses. Grabbing the scissors with his bloody hand and the bag with his other, the person slowly kneels on his knee and reaches the doorknob before standing up… and pulling it out quickly as he braces himself. A few seconds later, nothing happens. The person then slowly pokes his head out and looks left-to-right… then gestures them to follow him. The group nods reluctantly and does as he says.

When everyone's out, the person closes the door of the infirmary slowly, before placing his left hand on the ground and kneels again. Taguchi asks in English: "_What are you doing?_"

"_Making sure nobody is around, or…_" Suddenly, an earthquake happens, making everyone drop to the floor. A few seconds later, it stops. "_That._" The person finishes his sentence.

"_You could have warned us._" Taguchi scowls.

"What did he say, mister Taguchi?" Seiko asks as she massages her butt.

"Well, he already prepared for the earthquake." The cameraman answers.

Naomi pouts. "He could have told us."

"With his language?" With that question, the girl can't really answer.

The person then stands up as he heads to the right… only for a few steps before he returns back to the group and then releases a sigh of relief. Taguchi immediately asks: "_What is it?"_

"…" However, instead of answering, the person slowly takes careful steps towards the stairs, as he raises the scissors up, preparing for anyone to come.

… Then, a couple of running steps echo, causing the girls to hide behind the cameraman, and Kuro tightens his grip on the scissors, with the bloody bag already in his coat pocket. After a few seconds later, a girl and a boy run up the stairs and reveal their faces…

"K…Kishinuma?" Seiko asks in surprise.

"Class rep?" Naomi follows in surprise. Seeing who they are, the person immediately drops his guard towards the two, but turns his head towards the other way and his grip on the scissors is not loosen.

"Shinohara! Nakashima!" Ayumi Shinozaki says their names in happiness. However, it's dropped instantly as she tells: "Suzumoto is in danger!"

The moment he hears the name, the person turns to look at the class rep, or rather her hands, and sees a doll in them. His eyes widen in terror, and the person immediately runs towards the infirmary door and opens it harshly…

And everyone looks inside and sees Mayu Suzumoto floating in the air, with two ghosts being right next to her, rendering the girl unconscious. They immediately run inside, and Ayumi shouts towards Mayu: "Suzumoto! Open your eyes, please!"

Everyone, except the person, sees the door behind them close, but they pay it no more than a second as they return their focuses on the ghosts. Yoshiki Kishinuma shouts in anger: "Haven't you ghosts done enough already?! I don't know what happened to you, and I can guess it's horrible, but you are cursing…" Any more words that could come out of his mouth can't be heard anymore as the person has already covered his mouth with the left hand. "MMHH!"

However, that's enough to anger the ghosts, as their roar shakes the room. The class rep shouts: "Stop! If you make them mad, they will shut us out!" She then turns to the ghosts and says slowly: "…Come on, you two… I have something you need to…"

"_NO!" _That shout surprises Ayumi, as she turns to the person who just said that, and the ghosts do so as well. "_That doll is not what they're after!"_

Thankfully, Ayumi does know the language, as she asks: "_What do you mean? The teacher has confessed…"_

"_That one didn't kill the kids!"_ The person answers, and with Taguchi translating, everyone widens their eyes in surprise.

"That huge guy didn't kill them?" Yoshiki asks after managing to pry the hand off his mouth. "But that girl, Naho, she told us to find the killer…"

"_And you're assuming the wrong guy!"_ The person shouts back. "_And Naho is a liar!"_

"…What? You know Naho?" Ayumi asks again.

"_I… uh…" _He plans to answers, but his focus turns to the two ghosts, who are staring straight at him. "_Um… do they… understand…me?" _And to his surprise, they nod. "_That's… unexpected…"_

"…Y…kn…som…" The girl with the missing eye starts speaking, however, she couldn't say a word.

"… _I hope this is correct… Yuki, am I correct?"_ The ghost widens her remain eye in surprise. The person then lowers the scissors to the ground to show that he's unarmed, then he pulls out the bloody bag from his coat and gives it to the ghost girl. "_I believe this is yours._"

"…" The bag's content suddenly vanishes. The girl starts crying a bit… then she says: "… Thank you… very much…"

Everyone doesn't dare to say a word. Kuro turns and looks at Ayumi for a translation, and she complies: "She's thanking you."

"_I see… you're welcome…" _He then looks at the headless girl. "_Tokiko…" _That gains her attention. "_We could help finding what you want. However, we can't do so with you trying to kill us. Can you and Ryou not attack anyone during the time we search for them… please?"_ The headless girl looks at Yuki, who then nods. The girl moves what left of her head, signaling that she agrees. The two ghosts then disappear, leaving Mayu to slowly descend and lie on the floor. The person then drops on the floor on his legs and hands, panting heavily. "_… Too… close…"_

Everyone starts gathering around Mayu, as Ayumi nudges the girl trying to wake her up. "Suzumoto?"

"Um…" The girl's eyes slowly open up, and the first one she sees is Ayumi. "Class rep? Is that you?"

"Thank the heaven!" Ayumi cries and hugs the girl. "You have no idea how we're so scared! I thought…"

Seiko grins up. "Cheer up, class rep. Suzumoto is safe now, and that's what matters, right?"

Ayumi nods slowly. "But it's so scary…"

Naomi says in relief: "We managed to reach the others now… the people who are left are: miss Yui, Mochida siblings and Morishige."

Yoshiki then says: "We should give him a proper thank. After all, who knows what could happen to Suzumoto if we used that doll?"

Ayumi nods and helps Mayu standing up, then bows to the person and says: "_Thank you very much for saving my friends."_

"_It's… no big… deal…"_ The person says between his breathes.

"_You should sit down properly." _Taguchi suggests.

"…_Yeah…"_ The person does so, then looks up to Ayumi and Mayu as he asks: "_Is she okay now?"_

"_Yes._" Ayumi then introduces. "_I think it's time for us to introduce ourselves. My name is Ayumi Shinozaki…" _That name makes both Taguchi and the person shiver. "_What's wrong?"_

"_It's…nothing."_ The person answers back.

Ayumi decides to continue: "_The white hair guy here is Yoshiki Kishinuma, and the one you just saved is Mayu Suzumoto. You might have heard of Shinohara and Nakashima, right?" _Gains a nod from the person. _"May I ask for your name?"_

"…" After his breath turns back to normal, the person answers: "_I can't tell you __**my real name**__. However, you can call me __**Kuro.**__"_

* * *

**Chapter 1 end!**

**And that's it, for now. Anything mysterious about this new person will be explained in further chapters. Goodbye, for now!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2 immediately, since the idea is still there! Now, let's fix something quick:**

"_Any languages other than Japanese"_

"_SHOUTING IN ANY LANGUAGES OTHER THAN JAPANESE"_

**Need to fix that because the OC won't speak just English, or any characters in the future.**

**With that out, let's head to chapter 2!**

* * *

"Kuro, huh? Nice pick you did there." Seiko teases the person, as Ayumi translates his words to the group.

Said person pouts while a tiny pink appears on his cheek. "_I can't help it. The name is cool… to me."_ The pouting intensifies as everyone chuckles at his confession.

"It… it just… doesn't seem to fit your look with that pout…" Naomi says between her giggle.

"_Don't be mean to…_" Suddenly, his mood turns completely one-eighty, as his eyes narrow dangerously. "_I nearly forgot…"_ Standing up, Kuro looks at the door, as it opens on its own. "_Taguchi, Yoshiki."_ He calls for the two.

"…_What… what is it?"_ Taguchi asks in concern.

Wielding the scissors, Kuro slowly walks to the wall next to the door again, before kneeling down, and he raises his left hand up, signaling them to stay put, but then he signals the guys to stay next to him. Seeing how serious he is, Taguchi and Yoshiki comply and move. Once they're in position, Kuro slowly pokes his head out… then slowly walks out of the room, looking both ways before signaling the group to come out. The girls slowly walk out, trying to keep their steps as quiet as possible. After everyone's out, Kuro looks at the stairs, then puts his left hand on the floor and closes his eyes… and he could feel the footsteps coming from the stairs and something being pulled. "_!_" The moment he realizes that, he stands up and prepares to fight, just in time to see the zombie man walking towards them with the sledgehammer being pulled on the floor.

"AHH!" Taguchi shouts in surprise, as everyone starts stepping back from him. "That guy is not dead!"

"_Taguchi!"_ Not losing focus on the zombie man, Kuro shouts. "_Tell Yoshiki to protect them! Get close looks on Naomi and Ayumi…"_ He immediately dodges to his right to dodge the hammer swing. "_Don't let them run alone…"_ Rolling to the left before the hammer meets his head. "_GO!"_

"_What about you?"_ Ayumi says over Yoshiki's arms, since the latter is trying his best to cover the girls from the sight.

"_I have to…"_ Stabbing on the guy's heart before pushing him out, Kuro continues. "_Deal with him first!"_

"Taguchi! I'm helping him!" Yoshiki, despite not knowing what he said, clearly understands his plan. However, the moment Kuro has a space to breathe, he immediately pushes Yoshiki back. "Hey! I'm trying to…"

"_For God's sake! If you want to help, then look after Ayumi! Don't let her get possessed and run around!" _After shouting at his face, Kuro turns back just in time to stab the zombie's right arm with his left arm raising up, successfully stopping the hammer from reaching his head.

"TSK!" Yoshiki plans to try to interfere, but Ayumi has pulled him back, causing him to shout at her: "Shinozaki! He needs help!"

"He's telling us to run!" The class rep explains.

"And leaving him behind?" Yoshiki asks back.

"Pal! He's trying to help here!" Taguchi also pulls Yoshiki back. "We have to take care of the girls first!"

"…*TSK!*" Yoshiki says no other words, and starts covering the girls as they head to the way opposite to the fight. Though, before he's completely out of sight, he shouts: "Don't you dare die on us!"

* * *

'Damn it! This guy's too strong!' Kuro screams in his mind, as he swats the arm away, and rolls back to dodge the hammer swing. 'That sneak attack can only work once. I need to somehow stop him from advancing.' Pulling his earphone, he waits for the zombie to attack. When he sees the hammer getting swung down, he sidesteps and wraps the earphone around the zombie's neck, then he uses his strength to pull the zombie to the stairs and throws it down. The zombie screams as it starts falling down, as its body vanishes into the darkness. Kuro sighs in relief. "_Kho vai chuong... Du sao thi cung tam thoi song duoc mot luc…_"

"Hehehe…"

"_!"_ Swallowing hard, Kuro slowly glances back from the left, using only his left eye to see who's behind him. And lo and behold, the true killer is right behind him. 'Shit! How can I get out of this situation?!'

"You managed to defeat him… Well, defeat is a strong word. You survived." The ghost girl keeps talking, despite that she is aware that Kuro doesn't understand a word. "However, your luck won't last forever, so you better savor it."

'She could just kill me now…' Gripping the scissors harder, he starts focusing on the scissors in her hand, readily to deflect it out.

"Hehehe… how curious. You're planning to fight me?" The girl taunts. "You really expect that you could overcome me?"

"…" Kuro says no words, as he waits for any moves coming from the girl.

"You know you can't fight me. That sweat on your forehead tells that much." True enough, Kuro's sweat gets cold, probably scared for his life. "You know I'm the real killer. Yet… you don't seem to have a plan to oppose against me. You are… planning to 'save' me?"

'… Should I tell her that… or not…'

"It doesn't matter. You can't get out anyway. Farewell." With that, the girl leaves forward and aims her scissors towards Kuro's heart…

"_Yoshie Shinozaki."_ Kuro, instead of deflecting the attack, calls out the name.

"!" Just about a centimeter hitting the coat, the blade stops in midair, and the girl floats back in surprise.

Knowing that it works, Kuro slowly turns back, as he points his scissors towards the floor, indicating that he's not planning to attack, yet. His eyes, however, focus on the scissors, so he won't be put into anything problematic. "_I know you're the one who killed the other kids. However… I don't blame you. I can sympathize with your actions, and I would do the same if I was you… But that doesn't justify your kills. Not at all!"_ He shouts from this part, causing the girl to stumble back._ "You killed them because you thought they could help your mother from being lonely? No, that's a poor move from you! The only thing you need to do, is to stay right next to her! Be her company! From the beginning! That's all it takes for both of you to be happy!"_ Breathing in… breathing out… "_… Look, it happened, and you can't reverse it. However, if you feel guilty for your actions… then, I could help you atoning. Of course, if I manage to save everyone first."_

"…" The girl's head hangs down, and it's for the best, because Kuro doesn't want to look directly at her eyes for sure.

"*ROAR*" Kuro immediately turns back, and sees the zombie man starting to walk up to the floor, preparing to attack again.

"_Persistent. I don't want to completely kill you, because I'm sure you can be atoned. But… to save the others…"_ Kuro points the scissors up. "_I need to make sure you can't stand up again."_

Seeing this as a taunt, the zombie roars up again, and Kuro lowers down to prepare another dodge…

"Stop." The ghost girl suddenly orders the zombie man, and he slowly lowers the hammer down. "Go." The zombie grunts in confusion, but complies and goes down the stairs.

Kuro is confused and turns back… only to see the girl vanish, and a piece of paper is lying on the floor. Still being cautious, Kuro grabs the paper and tries to read it, only to not be able to understand, because it's in Japanese. 'What did I really expect?' Kuro chuckles to his own silliness, as he puts it in his inner coat pocket. "_Du gi thi cung song duoc mot luc. Nen tim bon ho truoc khi…"_

Suddenly, another earthquake occurs, forcing him to kneel down to avoid getting face-faulted to the floor. Without him noticing, the floor has changed again. After it dies down, he stands up and immediately sees some differences. And one big difference, being the blood stain on the floor just before the infirmary door. "_! Dua nhau a?"_ Panicking, Kuro runs to the direction the group has run off… and sees the bloody wall in front of him. "_M…M…MAY DUA TAO A?"_ Falling down to his knees, Kuro is angry that his efforts have been wasted… until: "_Ma khoan… cai truong nay no von the ma. Vai that…"_ Realizing his stupidity, Kuro stands up and hardens his thoughts. 'Totally forgot that this school will show the worst fear in their minds. It has own thoughts and it could be separated with the ghosts' minds. But… if it's here…' Turning to his right, he could see another way to go. 'Sorry… past Mayu, maybe…' He's uncertain that which timeline he's currently in, but…

"Who's there?" A flashlight suddenly points towards him, forcing Kuro to raise his left hand up to cover his eyes.

"Um… Hello?" Yeah, he's saying in Japanese, and that's the most stupid thing he has done.

"… That's the most terrible accent I have ever heard." The light then moves down a bit, so Kuro could see who's facing against. "You look alive, that's for sure. But what kind of sound did you just make?"

Kuro points his finger towards his lips while smiling nervously. "_Sorry. Can't speak Japanese."_

The student before him nods. "_Now that makes more sense. My name is Sakutaro Morishige. What's yours?"_

"_Call me Kuro. My real name is a bit hard to spell._" Kuro answers back.

"_I'm glad I have seen alive people here… say, were you shouting back then?"_

"_Ah… yeah. Some… unpleasant scene… can we uh, go somewhere else?"_ Kuro suggests… then remembers this part. "_Thoi chet…"_

"_? What's wrong?"_ Sakutaro asks back, clearly confused at the new language.

"_Actually…" _Before he could say more, footsteps can be heard behind the other student, forcing Kuro to raise his scissors in defense…

"Morishige!" The student turns back. That sounds like… "You're okay!"

"Mochida! You as well!" Sakutaro is surprised as well. "I'm relieved to see someone else from class…"

"Yeah… huh?" The older Mochida notices Kuro standing behind Morishige, who now lowers the scissors in relief. "Who is this, Morishige?"

"Ah, right… He can't speak Japanese, unfortunately, but we could call him Kuro." Morishige then turns to Kuro and introduces: "_Sorry for the waiting. Anyway, the boy here is Satoshi Mochida, and the girl is Yuka Mochida. They are siblings."_

Kuro bows. "_Nice to see you."_

Mochida siblings return the gesture. The elder then notices something behind Kuro. "?" Satoshi then tries to get to there, but Kuro stops him. Satoshi sends him a look of questioning, and Kuro gestures with his hands, saying to cover Yuka's eyes. Not understanding why he asked for it, but Satoshi still follows.

"Um, Big Brother, why are you…"

"Kuro didn't want you to see something… I think so." Yuka nods, and covers her eyes by herself. "Okay… Kuro, can we go?"

Kuro turns to look… and reluctantly nods. The group then moves back where Kuro just came… and meets the fleshing wall. "!" Satoshi immediately understands why Kuro wanted Yuka to cover her eyes.

"A… human?" Morishige reaches his left hand forward and points the phone to the corpse, only for Kuro to immediately stop him. "_What's wrong?"_

Kuro just shakes his head and gestures them to follow him. The others don't know what Kuro's thinking, but decide to honor his request. When everyone is standing in front of the infirmary, Kuro decides to drop the truth: "_Morishige… I have bad news and good news…"_ He points his finger towards the flesh wall. "_Bad news is… Mayu…"_

"_! What happened to her?"_ Sakutaro immediately asks in concern, however, Kuro's gaze towards the wall. "_No…nonono…"_

"_But, that comes with good news."_ Kuro immediately says before he snaps. "_I managed to save her. That flesh wall is trying to mess with our minds."_

Sakutaro's breath slows down, as he orders: "_Explain."_

"_This school is trying to make everyone fall into madness. That flesh wall COULD BE Suzumoto if I didn't stop it. However, it seems this school already marked our deaths already, so now we have to be extra careful of what's around us… If we're unlucky enough, we might encounter our own deaths for some reasons."_

"… _How can I trust you?"_ Sakutaro's breath fastens. "_It COULD BE HER, RIGHT NOW! You SAW IT, AND…"_

"_What did I gain, lying to you?"_ Kuro interrupts. "_I have to remind you: I have ZERO ideas who you guys were. I saw people about to be killed, I jumped in and saved them. If I want to kill anyone…" _Kuro points the scissors right at Sakutaro's face. "_Then that corner was a perfect opportunity to deliver a surprise attack. And I wouldn't shout out like a madman before to attract attentions._"

"…" The student can't counter that point.

"Big brother, what are they arguing about?" Yuka asks her brother, scared at the voice of the guys.

"I… don't know. But it maybe relate to Suzumoto, if I have heard her name…"

"_And to ease your fear. Suzumoto is with everyone else except you three and your teacher. We need to…"_ Another earthquake suddenly occurs, and this time the floor gives in and collapses, throwing the four down…

Except Kuro, who manages to grab on the remaining floor before he falls. Pulling himself up, Kuro looks down at the hole to see an endless darkness. "_Damn. Luckily that picture is not in his phone… or is it?"_ Looking at the stairs, he sighs and walks down to the lower floor, knowing that he couldn't make it further at the other direction.

* * *

Turning left after going down the stairs, he walks to the intersection… and feels something freezing on his back. "_!_" Not daring to look back, Kuro runs forward and takes a left turn. Running into the entrance way, he hides behind a shelf from the way he just came in, tries to slow down his breath so whatever it is won't be able to detect him…

"…_!"_ However, he forgets a crucial thing: A ghost could float through any materials. After he peeks out to see if he's being followed or not, he turns back to the door and looks down, and he looks straight to the eyes of the ghost boy. Immediately, his mind is filled with agony and pain, causing him to fall on the ground, his hands grabbing his head while he screams in pain, the scissors drops next to him. "_God damn it!"_ Gritting his teeth, Kuro tries to keep his eyes open and himself conscious, but it proves to be difficult. "_No! I can't die here!" _Shouting to himself, Kuro uses one of his hands to push himself up, however, he accidently looks at the ghost's eyes again, and the pain intensifies. "_DUNG CO DUA…" _With his last attempt, he grabs the scissors and tries to swat the ghost away, but, even when the ghost floats away, the pain of his death causes a heavy trauma in Kuro's mind. And with the last attempt to save him, his mind shuts down…

* * *

**Chapter 2 end!**

**A Bad End right at chapter 2? What really happened? Find out in next chapters!**


	3. Chapter 3

**So chapter 3 is out now! Seems like you guys do like it a bit. Hope I could keep entertaining you all. Let's enjoy chapter 3 together!**

* * *

The floor shakes under their shoes, as they keep themselves up from face-planting to the wooden ground. After a while, it stops, and Yoshiki looks back to where they just ran from. "He should better follow us soon. And don't plant to run back without us, Shinozaki." He says, as his hand feels a little force coming from the girl.

"But, he's fighting that person alone!" The class representative shouts in depress.

"He could hold himself…maybe." Taguchi says uncertainly. "He did deal damage to that zombie a while ago. It must have been weakened, just a little bit."

"How did you manage to save us anyway?" Seiko asks, remembering that she hasn't talked about it yet. "I was in a daze back then."

"Well, he ordered me to focus on taking you down. He himself went first and snatched the scissors in that zombie's pocket and stabbed it, pushing it to the wall nearby. He then pushed miss Nakashima out of you, then used the Holy Water I lent him and forced her to drink that. Though, it seemed you…" He looks at Naomi at this point. "were thrashing too much, so he had to knock you out."

"So that's the burning feeling in my neck…" Naomi grabs her neck where she felt the burn.

"That sounded scary… how did you meet him?"

"Well…" The group approaches class 2-A's door. "I was… recording that… when he suddenly approached behind me. I would have exposed both of us if he didn't cover my mouth immediately."

Yoshiki opens the door. "We are now alive, thanks to him… Suzumoto, you were alone? Have you seen Morishige?"

Mayu shakes her head. "I haven't. I was by myself before you and representative got to the nursery."

"So that…" Though, his attention turns to the ghost standing alone in the classroom. "Is that…"

Ayumi walks into the room and sees her as well. "Naho Saenoki? What are you doing here?"

The ghost girl turns back to look at the group. She then detects Taguchi, as she chuckles: "You're still alive, you coward?"

The cameraman replies back nervously: "Well… sheer luck, I guess?"

Ayumi pulls out the doll and shows it to the ghost girl while asking: "I have a few questions to you. Are you certain that the teacher was the killer who killed the children?"

Naho raises her eyebrows in annoyance. "Why did you ask that? You heard of that event. You saw the newspapers scattering around here…"

"If so, then why did Kuro tell us that you're lying?" Seiko asks. "What did he know that you didn't know?"

The ghost girl looks at Seiko, her eyes widen a bit in surprise. "Interesting… wasn't you dead moments ago?"

"She wasn't, and no thanks to you!" Naomi pulls her friend back, not wanting to deal with anymore ghosts.

Taguchi asks his 'co-worker': "Have you seen Hibiki-sensei somewhere? I lost sight of him a while ago."

"Then we're the same. I'm still finding him…"

Ayumi: "Do you have any details about how the children were killed? Because I believe that they're finding something that they lost. Kuro managed to calm them down and promised them to…"

"Who is this Kuro?" Now that irritates Naho. "You seem to trust this stranger too much. Or is he a friend of yours?"

"The fact he saved us earned him respect." Naomi replies. "And he even stopped the one you assumed to be the killer for us to escape."

"Back to the matter…" Yoshiki plans to say more, however, footsteps are heard outside, so the group turns to the door and prepares themselves… and Morishige walks in with his phone light on. "Morishige, is that you?"

"So the group is here… Mayu!" Of course he has to find her first, as he runs towards the girl and gives her a tight hug. "I'm so glad you're alive!"

"Morishige! You as well!" Now that makes everyone smile happily, except the ghost girl whose confusion is getting bigger.

Releasing the hug, Morishige then looks around and asks: "Where's miss Yui?"

Mayu answers: "She has left Yoshiki and Shinozaki before. We haven't…"

"Shinozaki?" Naho interrupts their conversation.

"Yes, that's me." The class representative replies.

"…Now this is interesting." Naho lets out a tiny smile. "The teacher who fell off the stairs and died… had the same last name as yours."

"…WHAT?"

* * *

"_So ong kha den nhi?_" Kuro opens his eyes to see black all surrounding him while he is floating in the middle of it. He turns around for a few times to try to see who is talking. "_Dung co noi la chinh ong quen luon giong cua ong nhu the nao roi nhe?_" He immediately turns to his left and sees himself, wearing all black with a cane, a scarf and a fedora.

"… _Dung co noi la toi chet roi nhe? Khong vui dau._" Kuro deadpans, not expecting his journey to stop that abruptly.

"_Almost died. Ryou almost gave us a heart attack, though. He's just curious about you."_

"_Yeah, curious to the point that he applied the curse on eye-contact."_

"_Well, that's just unlucky. He did pay back by keeping watch on your body now."_

"_At least he feels sorry. So… I'm going to wake up soon?"_

"_If you feel so."_

"…_Dung co dua kieu day."_

"_U, toi biet."_

…

Waking up, Kuro feels the scissors being in his right hand's grip, which lays on his stomach… and the coldness floating above him. Opening his left eye, he sees the boy being straight up face-to-face, and nearly swings the scissors up out of fear if the boy isn't backing out immediately. He then notices himself being placed with his back facing the shelf, since the boy is in front of the main door. He opens his remaining eye while saying: "_Not cool."_

"S…ry…" The boy hangs his head down apologetically.

"_It's alright. Just don't do it again."_ Standing back on his feet, Kuro asks: "_Why are you here?"_ Seeing the boy looking up at him with hopeful eyes, he understands. "_I will find it. But I'm not sure if we're in the right dimension, so bear with me for a while, okay?"_

The boy nods, and Kuro puts the scissors into his pocket and starts heading back into the school, with the ghost boy following behind. Although, Kuro notices the hall on the right having extended. "_Hm…should I… Ryou, can you stay in this place? The second wing won't have your thing, but I need to make sure that a… certain someone won't run around and kill people._" The boy nods, a bit saddening but understanding as he vanishes. Kuro starts walking to that hall, opens the door which is unlocked luckily, and heads to the other building...

…

Feeling the change of atmosphere, Kuro shivers a bit. Thankfully, a lightened candle is positioned next to a shoe shelf, so he sits down next to it while lifting off his coat out to not feel the cold of the rain dampening it. "_Lanh vai chuong. The dech nao Ayumi chiu dung duoc khi ma co ay rua cai dong bay nhay trong cai ho boi nhi?"_ He shivers at the thought. "_Ma nghi lai thay kinh vai, cai dong do ma vao mom thi…"_

"Someone's there?" Hearing a voice, Kuro immediately pulls out the scissors, stands up then grabs his coat and shields himself with it, preparing for the worst…

And he slowly calms down when he sees who is approaching him. A scared girl, who is not in the 'dangerous people' list. Lowering his coat and scissors and putting them on the floor slowly, he raises his empty hands up, signaling that he's not going to hurt her. Kneeling down, he pushes the candle towards the girl, then backs away a bit. A few seconds pass, and the girl slowly comes to the candle and sits down while focusing on his every move. Knowing that she couldn't trust him yet, Kuro puts the scissors into his coat's inner pocket, then hangs it on his shoulder and sits opposite to her over the candle.

…Another moment passes. And the girl asks him something, but he couldn't pick any words that could be the main point of the question. So, he points to his ears and shakes his head, indicating that he couldn't understand what she said. The girl looks a bit down after knowing that. He sighs and pulling out his phone so he could open something…

"_English?"_ Looking up in surprise, Kuro sees the girl looking at him in worry.

And he replies: "_…You can speak it?"_

"_A bit."_ That makes Kuro facepalm. "_Sorry. I thought you're Japanese…"_

"_It's…okay._" Kuro assures her. "_Anyway, you can call me Kuro, since my real name is a bit hard to pronounce. What's yours?"_

"_It's Emi Urabe. Nice to meet you._" The girl smiles, knowing that he's at least trying to be friendly.

"_To you as well… Why are you alone?"_ Kuro asks, not wanting to know what he's fearing to be true.

"_It's…"_ Please no… "_I… saw someone…died… my friends…"_

"_Say no more."_ Kuro immediately orders her, and she follows. "_Sorry for asking."_ The girl nods. Another moment… "_Think you can walk now?"_ Another nod. Kuro stands up and says: "_I need to go deeper in this building, but I can't let you go alone. If you're near me, I could protect you better."_

"Thanks." The girl says, then quickly fixes it when Kuro looks at her curiously: "_I mean…"_

"_Well that's something I can understand. You're welcome."_ Kuro smiles back at her, causing her to smile as well.

…

After passing the West Hall, the duo faces the stairs, then Kuro notices something lying on the ground. He walks closer and kneels down to check what it is, and grimaces when he finds out. Emi asks in concern: "_What do you find?_"

Not answering immediately, he moves his left hand down and tries to grab it, only to see his hand moving through it. "_Hm… illusion, again._" His expression eases up as he stands up and answers: "_Nothing important. Let's head upstairs."_

"…_Okay._" She knows that he's hiding something, but she doesn't dare to ask, not now at least.

"_To ease your fear…"_ Kuro suddenly says. "_I thought it's a real deal, but turned out to be this school trying to trick us. We have to be extra careful._"

"_Oh…"_ So that's why.

After reaching the second floor, they walk back into the hall and see a bloodstain next to a hole that leads to the first floor. The girl says again: "_Blood is everywhere. I really don't like it…"_

"_Neither do I."_ Kuro replies understandingly. Then another bloodstain, this time with human shape, lies in the middle of the hall. "_This is not good…"_

"_Don't mind me, but why are you alone?"_ Emi suddenly asks, referring to when they first met.

"…_Best to say, it's personal matter."_

"…_Where's your friends?"_

"_Not very sure. But they're brave enough, I'm sure."_ Kuro lies.

Emi decides not to push it further. Though, she wraps her arms around Kuro's left one, causing him to turn to her in surprise. "_I'm a bit cold, and your coat is warm…"_

That causes him to blush a bit, then immediately pulls out the coat and gives it to her. "_Keep it for now."_

"_Thanks."_ Though, her arms are not leaving. "_I feel a little safer this way."_

"…_Suit yourself then._" Trying not to scream out of embarrassment, Kuro says.

Then, they hear a whimper noise around, a little child's one. Emi is about to say something before Kuro covers her mouth with his hand as the two stop a bit. Then, the whimper stops, and Kuro removes his hand, as Emi asks: "_What is it?"_

"…_Not sure if it's real or illusion. Let's keep moving."_

* * *

"It can't be… that little girl…" Yoshiki says, now connecting the dots. "Only that girl survived, but then vanished without a trace…"

"And that black lady… Kuro said her name being Yoshie Shinozaki… was she really that teacher?" Taguchi says in fear, remembering how the duo girls nearly got killed when she appeared, and Kuro returned just in a nick of time to stop it.

"Hm… sounds like you got yourself a big scoop. Congrats then." Naho mockingly says to Taguchi. "If you manage to survive."

"I'm a bit surprised that you didn't connect the dots." Morishige says his suspicion. "A person like you should have found that out earlier… or you're tricking us into thinking that."

"…Now you're saying it… maybe it's somewhere there…" Naho starts wandering in her mind.

"What do you mean?" Ayumi asks in confusion.

"There are a lot of blanks in my memory, so to speak. Maybe that detail was somewhere in there."

"You got amnesia?" Seiko asks.

"… That's for another matter. For now, I will continue my search. Try to survive this place." With that, the girl walks to another door of the classroom and exits, leaving the big group behind.

"I think you should follow her…" Yoshiki tells Taguchi, but the cameraman shakes his head.

"Unfortunately she's dead. But at least we don't have to worry much about her suddenly turn against us. For now, we have to protect ourselves first…"

"And we have to be careful of illusions as well." Morishige warns. "I… Kuro showed me where you… 'died', Mayu. Thankfully, he seemed to know how this school works…"

"You found him? Did you see a zombie around?" Yoshiki asks back in worry.

"No. He was alone, though he looked fine." Morishige replies.

"Thank goodness…" Everyone sighs in relief.

"But, I lost sight of him and Mochida siblings after the floor collapsed…"

"You found Mochida as well?" Both Ayumi and Naomi ask in concern, the former makes Yoshiki feel a little disheartened.

"Briefly."

"Right now, we can't separate. The ghosts could pick us one by one if we did so. Kuro only told those ghost kids to leave us, not the others." Yoshiki says.

"Okay!" Everyone agrees.

* * *

"_Hoi la roi do…"_ Kuro speaks to himself, as he and Emi reach the floor where the Headmaster's office is located. He knows that he couldn't access it because he didn't see the Headmaster falling down, but with his interferences, things could change somehow.

"_What is it?"_ Emi asks him.

"_It's… the number of corpses… it's too low for some reasons…"_

"_I feel like it is better…"_

"_Actually, it could be worse. We couldn't be sure WHEN we are if it's in the primitive time of this place."_

"_Heh, primitive time?"_

"_The beginning. IF we're in that time, the four ghost children WILL hunt us."_ Kuro grabs Emi's hands and starts pulling her with him while running down the lower floor. "_We need to be quick. If we're lucky, the next earthquake could send us…"_ Just in time for one to happen, causing Emi to nearly fall out the stairs if Kuro doesn't stop and hold her from falling down. "_Back to the time we should be."_

Once it stops, the girl timidly says: "Thank you…" Earning a nod from Kuro, she looks down at the lower stairs and yelps in surprise. "_W…What is that?"_

Looking down where she's pointing, Kuro watches as somebody is running into the hall. "_… We have to be careful…"_

The duo starts walking slowly down to the second floor, the footsteps suddenly return and head straight towards them. Emi immediately hides behind Kuro as he draws out the scissors again…

And bursts out from the door, Mitsuki Yamamoto stops before the two with frightened face. Upon seeing Kuro first, she falls on the back, trying to crawl away due to the sight of the bloody scissors. However, Emi recognizes her and asks: "Mitsuki?"

Now that stops the frightened girl from crawling, as Kuro moves to the left a bit so the girls could see each other's face. The girl asks back shakily: "E…EMI?"

Emi screams her friend's name as she runs towards her and hugs her, though that causes both of them to lie on the floor. Kuro sighs in relief as he pockets the scissors while looking around, checking for any dangers. "Mitsuki! I'm so worried! Where have you been running off?"

"I…You… YOU WERE KILLED!" The girl suddenly screams up, as she tries to push the other girl out. Emi is surprised after hearing that, and that moment lets Mitsuki to escape her hug. She tries to run, but Kuro immediately grabs her right arm to stop her from running. "LET GO OF ME!"

"Mitsuki! What's wrong?"

"_Can you tell her to calm down?"_ Kuro asks Emi, as he pulls out the bold move by pulling Mitsuki towards him and hugs her tightly, causing her to flinch up and punch him in the chest.

"LET GO OF ME!"

"Mitsuki, stop! He's trying to help us!" Emi screams, trying to calm the girl down.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU!" Mitsuki screams again. "LET GO OF ME! THAT GHOST IS COMING!"

"… _Now that's troublesome…"_ Kuro sighs, as the pain starts getting to him.

"_Kuro! She's saying that a ghost is coming!"_ Emi immediately translates the girl's scream.

"_!"_ Kuro looks directly at the door Mitsuki just walked through, just in time to see Tokiko walking straight to him. However, the moment the ghost sees him, she stops and takes one step back. "_…We made a deal, right?"_ Kuro asks, uncertainly. Thankfully, the ghost girl nods with what's left of her head, as she fades away.

"… _You chased her away?"_ Emi asks in disbelief. "_You can do that?"_

"_Well, 'chased away' is a bit wrong. She left us alone, for now."_ Kuro says, feeling the punches slowly stop. "_Does she calm down?"_

Emi walks closer to Mitsuki and asks: "Mitsuki? Are you okay?"

"…No." She then starts crying. "Masato… he's dead as well…"

That saddens Emi, as she says to Kuro: "_Another friend of ours…"_

"…_Can you tell her that… we MIGHT have a chance to save your friends?"_

"_Wait, really?" _Now that lightens up Emi's mood a little bit.

"What did he say?" Mitsuki asks while wiping her tears.

"He said we could save our friends!" Emi replies.

"Wait, really?" Mitsuki turns to ask Kuro again. "Can you revive dead people?"

"_Um…" _Unfortunately, those words aren't in his knowledge of language.

"Mitsuki, he can't understand you."

"…Isn't he…" Kuro releases the girl now, knowing that she has stopped thrashing. The girl takes a good look on him before asking: "What's your name? Wait, Emi called you Kuro earlier right? Why are you here?" She receives a flat look from Kuro, who clearly doesn't understand what she just said. "Never mind then…"

Emi translates the previous sentence for Kuro: "_She's asking you if you could revive people?"_

"_Do I look like one? Just leave this location first and find a cleaner place. The mid hall would do."_

…

"_Okay first, we're from different timelines."_ Kuro starts his explanation, and Emi also helps translating so Mitsuki and Kuro could understand each other.

Mitsuki asks in confusion: "Different timeline?"

"_This place, Heavenly Host… think of it like infinite biscuits placing on top of each other, each one is a dimension with different timeline and positions of locations." _Kuro notices Emi's eyes swirling. "_You can't translate that, right?"_ Earning an embarrassing nod, Kuro sighs: "_Okay… simple. There are many Heavenly Host. We come from different ones. The earthquake is how we go into each other's school."_

"So different time… you met Emi when she was walking around?"

"_Yeah. She's also different from your school. Anyway… the way I'm using to 'save' you, is to somehow get to the time BEFORE you got killed. I managed to save a few with this way, but they're not out of Heavenly Host yet. We need to comfort all the kids before reverting the spell."_

Emi asks: "_Can I ask why we failed the spell? I did check everything right! And our friends wouldn't just ignore the warning. Well, maybe Kai would do, but…"_

"_Since when did Naho give you a proper spell?"_ Kuro deadpans.

"…Wait! She gave out the wrong spell? WHY?"

"… _Ask her the next time we meet her."_ Kuro sighs. "_It's very dangerous to approach her without preparations."_

Emi: "Does it relate to her boss' disappearance?"

"…_Yes. And the 'scoop', about the events in Heavenly Host."_

Mitsuki slams her hands on the floor angrily. "How could she! She's risking everyone's life! For one scoop!"

Emi doesn't translate that, instead she apologizes to Kuro: "_Sorry for her actions. She's upset."_

"_I understand."_ Another earthquake causes Kuro to hold the dish that holds the candle so the light won't go off. "_The school will change itself. And we won't have any ideas who we could run into."_

Mitsuki: "So it's a blind shot in the dark?"

"_Basically." _He then looks at the East Hall's entrance. "_Let's move. We shouldn't stay in one place for too long."_

* * *

**Chapter 3 end!**

**Like what I said to my pal, Kuro will save everyone... one version of them anyway. For now, enjoy, and I will see you in the future!**


	4. Chapter 4

"Music room?" Mitsuki asks her classmate.

"Kuro said that he wanted to see if he could find a pair of shoes in there." Emi responds after Kuro told her the plan, in English.

"That's… why would he need one?" The trio starts walking down the stairs, with Kuro being a step in front of them to make sure nothing could jump on them unexpectedly.

"He said it's blessed, but he's not sure if it could protect us from being harmed from the spirits. 'Worth a try', as he said."

"… Is he religious? I don't see him being a kind to be a follower of sort."

"I think it's personal to him…"

They reach the room, as the music from the piano echoes in it. Kuro gestures them to be quiet, and he slowly walks towards one of the tables from afar. He then looks at its drawer… and lets out a long sigh. "_Not here…" _He then moves to a few more tables and checks them all before giving up.

"_You can't find it?"_

"_Unfortunately. But, it only means that we have to be extra careful, that's all."_

"So what are we going to do next?"

"… _Let's head to the other wing. Maybe we can find something."_

Although, the plan can't happen: when they return to the mid hall from the right, the cabinet falls down to the floor and breaks it, then falls to the darkness… bringing Kuro along with it. "_WHAT THE FFFF…"_

"Kuro!" Emi and Mitsuki scream at the same time, and they fail to grab Kuro in time. They both look down in terrify, not knowing what to do for a moment...

The latter takes a deep breath, and says to her friend: "Okay… okay… Emi, we have to find another way around and stick together. He's surely still be in the same school as ours, since there's no earthquakes. If we're lucky enough, he would walk out fine… with a sprained ankle… I hope."

"Don't say like that!" Emi doesn't like hearing that at all.

"Sorry, sorry. But, falling down a floor, he would get himself some pain for sure."

* * *

"_OUCH!_" Kuro grunts in pain as he lands on his back. The fall lasted shorter than he thought, but it's still painful. "_Well, freaking, done. If this is Sachiko's 'prank', then I'm not laughing."_ Sitting up and massaging his back, Kuro says to himself: "_Ao khoac thi Emi cam roi, ma do dac thi de trong day het… con moi cai dien thoai voi cai keo… ca kho roi day."_

He then looks around to see that he's in a hallway… but it looks to be the First Wing's structure, instead of the Second Wing. "_Falling from Second to First? That's new."_ He then notices a plank of wood lying next to him. And he sees a hole next to his feet. "_Well that's convenient."_ Standing up, he picks up the plank, which is heavier than he thought, but he still manages to carry it and puts it over the hole, making a way to the other side. "_Not bad. Worse than in the game, though. Stupid pixel logic."_ He mumbles the last part, as he has many 'unlucky deaths' while playing FPS games by not staying undercover properly.

"_Dung co ma roi lan nua…"_ He looks at the plank and threatens it, before walking on it and steps on the opposite floor. "_Good._"

He then walks up to the stairs… and ends up reaching the lavatories. "_Great… dead ends. Welp, time to return back to the lower floor."_ He sighs out loud, then retreats back to the stairs…

Only to stop himself when he hears footsteps from behind him. Grabbing the scissors' handles in his right pocket, Kuro turns off the light in his phone, blinding himself in the dark, but he manages to memorize the room from before. He presses himself against the wall and pulls the scissors out, waiting for anyone walking to him. He then sees the light emerging from the lavatory, as he presumes, and footsteps are starting to get closer…

"Hello?" A girl's sound… and it's not Naho or Sachiko… not dangerous, at least.

He pulls out his phone again and opens the light, then points it towards the girl… or girls, since there are three of them. And they're all wearing scared faces and slowly backing away from him. Kuro raises his right eyebrows in confusion, before noticing that they're focusing on… the bloody scissors. '_… Of course they have to look at it._' He sighs then puts it into his trousers' pocket, and raises both his arms up in the air, signaling that he's not going to hurt them.

Of course none of them believes him, given that he's having… an effective weapon in his possession. He sighs again, before taking a step forward, causing the girls to stumble back. But, when they're backing towards the boy's lavatory, he keeps walking forward to the girl's one, then he heads in. Reason: to see if something strange could happen.

And… a riddle, of all things. It takes him like, a few minutes to try all options, since he doesn't understand a word of the riddle. He keeps opening the door of the stalls in some orders… before finding a pair of sunglasses in the middle stall. '…Dude, seriously? All the riddle is for this?' He is not very happy about this. 'Oh well. Finders, keepers.'

Putting it in his empty pocket (the phone is still in his hand), he walks out of the lavatory and heads out… and sees one of the girls is missing. The others notice him returning and start backing to the lavatory's door again. Kuro looks at their behaviors, then shrugs. That's just a give-away for…

"SHUT THE GODDAMN DOOR!" Although, having something else, which is no confirmation of being ally or hostile, in the same location with a helpless girl is not an ideal Kuro could get into his head.

"_!_" Immediately after hearing that, he rushes towards the door, but the taller girl is blocking the way while shouting something. Since he doesn't understand it anyway, he ignores her expression and pushes her away hard, but not hard enough to knock her down, and opens the door quickly and gets inside.

In there, he sees the last girl sitting on the floor, looking frightened at the sound. Then, he remembers what scene this is, and who could make the sound. He ignores the duo girls that rush behind him, as he groans and walks quickly towards the last stall where the girl is facing. He then knocks on the door, hard, three times before shouting: "_Dude! Do you have to scare a helpless girl like that? Come out and apologize immediately!"_

A few moments later, after the girl's picked up by the others, the door of the stall slowly opens, and the ghost inside it starts to float out. He opens his mouth, only for Kuro interrupt him: "_And say that to her if you're saying that in Japanese, because I won't understand a thing._" He then walks out of the way and heads to the exit and starts finding some 'objects' to deal with this.

…

"Um… What did he just say?" Nari Amatoya asks herself, clearly suspicious at the strange language.

"He told me to apologize to you." The girls turn back to the ghost, as he lightly bows down. "And he's right. I'm sorry for scaring you girls."

The girls don't say a word yet. Then, Nana Ogasawara accepts it: "It's alright, mister. We're just surprised, that's all." She then looks back to Kuro and asks: "Do you know him, by any chances?"

"No, I don't." The ghost replies. "Though, he might have guessed at my outburst…"

"Should… should we call him back?" Chihaya Yamase asks timidly. "I think he's not… very dangerous…"

"Not dangerous? He has a pair of bloody scissors!" Nari is not agreeing with the idea. "I don't know why he has one, but I don't care. Right now, we need to find our way back to…"

"If I can say, miss…" The girls return to the ghost. "I don't see anything malice from him. At least, towards you. I didn't see the object, but it might belong to this place, and not to him."

"Belong to here?" Nana asks.

"This school… is very dangerous to the living beings. Have you seen the bodies and ghosts around?"

"Bodies?" Nari asks fearfully.

"… Then, you are lucky. The scene is not very pretty… May I ask a favor from you girls?" The ghost changes the subject. "Some rogue fiend has absconded with my prized gentleman's set, my hat and my glasses. If you happen to find them, would you kindly return them to me?"

The girls turn to look at each other's eyes for their thinking. Seeing that they're on the same mind, Nana answers: "Don't worry sir, you could just stay here. We will find them for you."

"My gratefulness. You are too kind."

…

"It's his hat." Nana finds the second item in the Infirmary, and the three start heading back to the exit, when Chihaya suddenly stops. "What's wrong?"

"I… I'm tired… *Sob*…" The girl starts crying a bit. "I want to go home…"

"Don't worry, Chihaya… We will get out of here…"

"How can you even say that? What could possible reason could you have for believing…" Chihaya plans to say more, but a ghost appears and causes her to back away in fear while pointing at her. The others turn back and see the one-eye ghost as well.

"You should be more optimistic." The ghost speaks up. "Otherwise, darkness will consume you."

"Optimistic? OPTIMISTIC?" Nari is not having a good time. "Look at this place! How could anyone stay optimistic when we could have a person like him walking around?"

The ghost understands who Nari is referring to. "He wouldn't kill senselessly. The scissors was obtained by another killer when he stopped him from killing a victim here."

"How could we trust you?" Nari narrows her eyes.

"… You don't have to. But, you can trust him." With that, the ghost disappears.

"…Trust whom? The other guy?" Nari questions the ghost's implication.

"We haven't met anyone to talk for a few hours, except the gentleman ghost and the other person." Nana thinks out loud. "And despite her wound, the girl seems… honest enough…"

Then, the Infirmary's door opens, revealing Kuro standing before it with a pissed expression. "_Cai nay dech phai Sachiko lam…"_ Though, once seeing Nana holding the hat, Kuro decides to leave and return to the lavatory while grunting in his language.

"…We still have no ideas what he's saying." Nari says again.

"He… maybe he's not Japanese?" Nana theorizes. "I mean, he looks like he's from Asia alright… Let's return the hat to the gentleman first before we could question him."

…

"_I see."_ The ghost chuckles. "_Falling twice in a few minutes? Your luck seems to not be on your side."_

"_No, that's just someone trying to create fun. Which is counter-productive, I could tell."_ Kuro leans on the door of the middle stall while grimacing at the pain on his body. "_At least nothing's broken, or else…"_

The ghost then changes the subject: "_You're going to follow them?"_

"…_I highly doubt that I could do so. I think that I could warn them about this place before trying to save the others."_ Kuro thinks of his plans. "_However, there's one main group that's critical to my plan. If I could get them all out, then it's possible that I could do the same to the others."_

The ghost then sees the girls entering the lavatory. "You girls have returned. Did you have any troubles?"

"Oh, not at all!" Nana says, as she gives back the fedora to the ghost. "Here you go!"

"Thank you very much." Putting the hat on his head, he bows: "It might be a bit late, but let me introduce myself. My name is Shimoda Souichiro. And the one here…" He then turns his head towards Kuro, who returns a look of confusion. "_I'm introducing you as well."_ Kuro 'oh', then waves his hand to the girl with a smile. "He calls himself Kuro, but he doesn't know Japanese as you could tell."

Nana nods, then raises her right hand towards Kuro for a handshake with a smile. "Hello. My name is Amatoya Nana." Kuro understands, as he returns the gesture with a smile.

After the other girls do the same, hesitantly, Souichiro says: "Kuro said that there's a way to escape this place. However, it's currently sealed, so he's working on it."

That makes Nana cheer. "You hear that, Chihaya? We can get out of here!"

Chihaya is also smiling as well. "It's good."

Nari is grateful that they could at least get out of here. However: "Why not now?"

"He said that there are 'requirements' to make sure nothing would interrupt the escape plan. He didn't say anything about it…"

"_I need to calm the spirits who caused this place to exist first."_ Kuro speaks up after Souichiro translates what he said to him, and the ghost immediately translates. "_And it's not a short process."_

"Then, can we do something to help you?" Nana asks, hoping that they could do something about this.

"… _Just stay alive, that's all I could ask. And don't fight each other. You need your friends to get out of here, no questions."_

"Of course!"

"_It's not that easy. The darkness will surely try to make you do so. That's how many died here."_

"I see. Could Chihaya's near outburst be caused by it?"

"_Outburst? Ah, that's a syndrome alright."_ Kuro nods. "_Like I said, be careful. And don't randomly read anything."_

"Why?" Souichiro questions.

"_Some of them are cursed. That's why I'm trying to find as many holy objects as possible._" Kuro explains.

"Should we do the same?" Chihaya asks.

"_Actually… run is a better option, but it's best to have something to defend yourself."_ Then, to everyone's surprise, the stall behind him suddenly vanishes, causing Kuro to fall, again. "_OH WHAT THE HELL!"_

Again, everyone screams and tries to grab Kuro but it's too late, again. Then, when everyone backs away a bit… the stall reappears. Nari questions: "What… what just happened?"

The ghost chuckles. "I guess he has quite a rotten luck. But, he's probably fine."

* * *

"_%^&*(*&. DUA NHAU A!"_ Shouting this time, Kuro ignores the pain on his back as he immediately stands up and points his finger to the ceiling. "_TOI CO THE CHET NEU VIEC NAY XAY RA THEM DO! BO ONG MUON GIET TOI LUON CHAC?"_

After a few more shouting, Kuro takes a deep breath before looking around to see where he is. And the smell of blood enters his nose. He grimaces. "_THAT room… seriously, why here? No one could be alive at this moment…"_

An alive person suddenly bumps into him, causing him to return back to see whom. And he sees a girl wearing a similar purple blazer. AND NOW he knows he's in danger.

"Ouch. What is…" Sayaka plans to say something, but Kuro immediately covers her mouth with his right hand, while raising his left finger over his lips to signal her to be silent. Albeit a little frightened, she nods understandingly. But then she notices the blood in the room, and she widens her eyes in fear. Noticing it, Kuro pushes her out of the room so she could no longer see them.

Once he could confirm that there's no sounds around, he retracts his hand back. Sayaka takes a deep breath to calm herself. Then she asks him: "Who are you?" However, Kuro doesn't answer, as he thinks that she's saying to herself and looks around to check the dangers. She then shakes his shoulder. "Hey, I'm talking to you!"

He turns to her and points at himself for confirmation. "Yes! I'm calling you…" Kuro immediately gestures her to be silenced again. She crosses her arms impatiently. "Why aren't you saying anything?"

"_I can't understand a word from you, so bear with it."_ Kuro replies, hoping that Sayaka could understand English.

"…Oh." Now she sees why. He can't speak Japanese. "_Sorry about that. What's your name?"_

"… _Call me Kuro. My real name is a bit hard to spell."_ He introduces himself.

"_Did you come here by the spell?"_

"…_Yes."_ He lies. Sayaka notices it, but decides not to push further. He then turns to the left and gestures to go that way. "_Let's get out of here first. I don't want to face that guy."_

"_What guy?"_ Sayaka asks. However, her answer suddenly presents himself right behind them with his footsteps and the sound of the hammer being pulled on the ground. Hearing a groan, Sayaka turns to Kuro and asks: "_Is that…"_

"_Yeah. Run."_

…

"Where are you, my students?" Yui Shishido asks herself as she slowly walks on the hallway while leaning on the wall. Her right arm is broken, so she has to use her left arm to keep herself up. With the thunder being her only source of light, she tries to see where she's walking on…

"_SCREW YOU SACHIKO!" _Someone is shouting from afar, being angry at something. _"AND YOU AS WELL IF YOU CAN HEAR ME!"_

Slightly alarmed, Yui slows down her speed even further. Though, the sound's not too far, so she might reach them eventually.

Turning to a corner, she sees a couple, one girl and one boy, sitting on the floor and leaning on the wall, panting heavily after their long run. The boy then notices Yui, and waves his hand to greet her before putting it down, still exhausted.

The girl also sees that, and the wounds on her arm as well. She stands up first and asks: "Miss, are you okay?"

Yui sees where the girl is looking, and nods. "It's a broken arm, but I'm okay. What happened to you?"

"We were just running from a dangerous man. He…" The girl gestures to the boy. "Took a hit for me, probably leaving a bad bruiser on him. Though there is no blood, so he's probably alright." Yui nods and plans to ask him, when the girl says: "And don't speak Japanese to him, he doesn't understand it. Call him Kuro by the way."

"I see… Kuro?" The teacher calls for him. The boy turns to him. "_Have you seen a group of students? One of them…"_

"_You are Yui, right?" _Kuro asks through his breath. "_Ayumi's group is safe, for now. However, Mochida siblings and Morishige are being separated. The rest are with Ayumi and Shougo. They would be okay in their timeline."_

Yui sighs in relief. Sayaka asks Kuro in surprise: "_Shougo? You mean the cameraman?"_

"_Yeah, him."_ Hugging his stomach and pushing himself off the floor to stand up, Kuro then says: "_We are currently safe from him for now, but we need to move to avoid another chase."_

"_You should stay down, Kuro."_ Sayaka suggests. "_That punch nearly knocks you out…"_

"_Better that or a hammer that could end my life."_ Kuro hisses. "_But damn, that hurts."_

Yui notices something strange in the voice, but she couldn't think of anything possible.

Then, another earthquake occurs, and Kuro falls forward, but he manages to stop facing the floor by using his arms to hold himself up. Yui's still leaning on the wall, but she's also wavering a bit. Sayaka yelps in surprise, but otherwise okay since she's still on the floor.

The shock then ends, and Yui notices a few things changed around her. "What… what happened?"

"I'm not sure." Sayaka stands up this time after having recovered. She then tries helping Kuro up by holding his right shoulder. "_Can you stand?"_

"_Give me a moment." _Kuro says. Then, placing his legs properly, he pushes himself up with Sayaka's help. "_Thank you."_ He then looks around. "_We better move. I don't like sitting in one place."_

…

"So it's really an illusion. I'm glad." Morishige says, after they get pass the hall that leads to the Infirmary.

"We aren't able to find Mochida and miss Yui." Naomi says, disappointingly. "And Seiko's charm is still missing…"

Taguchi then points to the Infirmary. "How about you girls stay there for the moment? Morishige and I will go look for a bit before returning."

"What about me?" Yoshiki doesn't want to be left back.

"You stay here and protect the girls." Morishige says. "We can't leave them alone, can we?"

"…Okay." At least it makes sense.

"Be careful, Morishige." Mayu says, wary at Morishige's conditions.

"I will." The boy gives her an assuring smile, before the duo go forward, while the rest enter the Infirmary.

"It looks cleaner than the previous ones." Seiko comments. The room looks much better.

Everyone then gathers around the bed, and Ayumi says: "If I'm right, the key to get out of here is the papers of the spell. Our focus now is to try and find Seiko's charm, while looking for the others."

"Easier said than done." Yoshiki says. "With all of the illusions, we can't be sure if we're in the right dimension."

Seiko: "Not to say about the ghosts. Some are friendly, but what about the ones trying to kill me and Naomi back then?"

Pulling out a candle, Ayumi says: "We should hold this to ourselves, two for each candle. We can't separate for sure, if not then…"

Everyone falls silent for a while. Then Yoshiki offers: "You girls should take a rest now. I will guard the exit."

"Thank you Kishinuma." That one line from Shinozaki alone cheers his heart a bit, but he doesn't show it on his face, as he nods and takes the chair and moves it near the door so he could look at it.

"Snuggly, snuggly…" When the girls are on the bed (Naomi and Seiko on one, Mayu and Ayumi on the other), Seiko starts moving closer to Ayumi and does some 'inappropriate' stuffs to Naomi.

"Stop it Seiko! I'm trying to rest!" Naomi weakly protests.

Mayu lets out a small laugh, while Ayumi looks at the scene with a smile on her face. Yoshiki also chuckles at their antics as well.

…

"Luckily your phone has night-vision mode." Morishige says thankfully.

Taguchi scratches his head then says: "It's a bit of mandatory, since we have to go to dark places many times." Then, footsteps can be heard in front of them. They look up to see Sayaka, Yui and Kuro walking towards them, with the latter walking a bit behind the others with his hands holding his stomach and covering his mouth. "Miss Sayaka! Kuro! You're okay!"

"Miss Yui, are you okay?" Morishige exclaims, as he notices the blood on Yui's arm.

"My arm is broken, but otherwise I'm fine." Yui lets out a smile despite the pain.

Sayaka then asks Taguchi: "Hey, Taguchi! Have you seen Naho?"

And immediately the cameraman drops his smile. "… She's… dead."

Sayaka's eyes widen in terror. "What? No! How did that…"

"_Sayaka…"_ She turns to Kuro. "_Taguchi said that she's dead, right?"_ Sayaka nods, her tears starting to flow. "_We have a way to save her. The dead Naho Taguchi found is just her present. We can prevent it."_

"_How? You can't resurrect dead people…"_

"_But we can prevent one from being killed, thanks to this place's special condition." _Kuro then coughs violently, before he's on his knees. "_God… damn… it…"_ Letting out a last cough which spills blood out of his mouth, he falls face-first to the floor, the world of darkness consumes his mind…


	5. Chapter 5

**To FirstWinterLight: Thanks for your compliment. If you haven't read The Tenth Shadow yet, then you should. It's a really good story.**

* * *

"… _Okay, this is way too cold…"_ Kuro opens his eyes to see that he's standing in a forest of sort. "_… Where the hell am I?"_ He remembered that he was with Yui, Sayaka, Taguchi and Morishige before… "_Right… the blood…"_

After he got hit by Yoshizaku, combining with the constant falls from before, something in him must have busted. Though, it might not be very serious since he could still move. Although… he might not be okay after that punch.

"_But still, I can't die. Not yet…" _He says to himself. He's pulled into Heavenly Host, and he's sure as hell… Nirvana in this case…that he's not going to stay down that easily… even if he's too coward to be so brave.

Standing up, he looks around, to see nothing very… out of ordinary, comparing to how extraordinary the forest already is. He scratches his head while thinking out loud: "_Where is the school? Seriously, I couldn't be out that long to be dragged into…"_

A sicken stabbing sound suddenly can be heard directly behind him. Stop doing what he's doing, he lowers his hands down and slowly reaches his right hand to his trousers' pocket, only to find that he literally has no accessories in him. Not even his phone or watch is in his possession. Quickly jumping forward, he crosses his arms in a defense stance before him before turning back…

Only for nausea to raise in his stomach, as he witnesses a not very pretty scene. A naked girl is nailed on a wooden stand which is used for execution, and her body is being stabbed through from below by a wooden pike. Then, the body burns up, as the ghosts of some people appeared. Their appearances remind him of the farmer outfits, however, they look like they're from an older era. They then shout at the girl with hateful tones.

"…_The Queen's death…"_ Kuro understands. "_A memory… the last memory… or is it really?"_ Testing his theory, he pats on one of the accusing people's shoulder…

Surprisingly, his hand feels the cold shoulder, as the person turns back, and Kuro could see the empty eyes. "_Quid vis?_" The person asks him.

"… _Didn't expect you to be able to interact with, but okay."_ Kuro says, then backslaps the person in the face with his right hand.

Immediately, more ghosts appear and start shouting at both him and the girl. Kuro covers his left ear in annoyance. "_Jeez, you guys are annoying."_ Then, some guards, for some reasons, also appear with spears and swords appear. "_…Uhm, Queen? This is NOT how memories work."_ He says out loud, HOPING the Queen could understand.

Then, one swings a sword at him, and he dodges to the right, then jabs the person in the chin. "_… Ouch."_ He says simply as he feels the pain in his hand, since he's not the best at muscle strength. Though, the good news is that the guard is gone instantly. "…_So I have to beat them up? Okay… what's the point here?"_

Two try to spear him, so he jumps forward then spins once so his body would stay in the middle of the attack. He then grabs both the handles and pushes them back to the guards so the other heads might be able to hurt them. And thankfully it does the work.

The rest, all with swords, run forward at once and slam their swords down at his head. "_Oi vai lua!" _Kuro curses before rolling out of the attacks, as the shouts around him get louder. "_Shut up, you all! You f***ers seriously killed a girl simply because she's someone better than you?"_ Kuro shouts back to the angry mobs before dodging again. "_And you called yourself superior? No, you are no better than even the lowest beasts!"_

The echoes of the shout get even louder, to the point that he couldn't even be able to hear the throbbing pain in his head. He's now all focusing on fighting the guards, which could be an instant death for him.

After a few minutes of trying to disarm the guards, Kuro gets tired and his movements slow down. One small moment earns him a fatal blow, as one of the guards manages to stab him on the shoulder. Screaming in pain and feeling adrenaline rushing more in his vein, Kuro throws a direct punch to the guard's face, causing him to vanish with the sword, but the damage is still there. "_Sh!t. I'm not that Covenant Knight, I can't tank these attacks!"_ He grunts, as his vision suddenly blurs. "_Not now!"_

Then, one stabs him to the other shoulder from behind, causing him to flinch forward in pain. Two more stab him right through his thighs, immobilizing him in place. This time he doesn't scream, but he hisses in frustration as adrenaline slowly depletes. The other guards disappear, leaving one with the last sword to walk to his right. From the shadow that the fire gives out, Kuro sees the guard raising his sword up while saying something, probably accusing him for 'fighting the force' or something. He sighs, and says to himself: "_Well, at least I put up a fight…"_ He closes his eyes, waiting for the cold steel to go down his neck…

…

Kuro re-opens his eyes, to see himself in the same forest, the same spot he has arrived… and the wounds have disappeared. "…_ A dream? No, it's too real to be one."_ He stands up again and tries to see if he has anything on him… to find none, again. "_Great. Another fight with no weapons? If this is one kind of torture, then they're doing a good work."_

It doesn't come, though. Instead, something stabs him through the heart from behind, causing him to widen his eyes in surprise. Blood starts raising and spilling out of his mouth. Slowly, his head turns back to see the Queen holding a burnt wood piece, that's stabbing his heart. Feeling the unconsciousness starting to get to him, he gives the girl a last smile before saying: "_Nice… to see you…"_

...

Time has repeated itself.

"…_Should I just lay down like this_?" Kuro says. "_Sounds like a good strategy to not getting backstabbed, unless she could phase through the ground."_

Then, multiple Queens appear and start grunting. He makes a poker face when he sees them closing in. "_…Okay, this is getting ridiculous now."_ He stands up. "_Right, let's see if I could find the real Queen."_

He then spins to see if one of them has a different thing. He then notices the burning one having no shadow, while the others have. "_… The most dangerous place is the safest. Really?"_

Upon seeing that he has spotted the right one, the others disappear, leaving the burning one back. The fire on her then disappears as well, leaving the girl standing idly before him. "…" She says something in Latin, but Kuro doesn't understand it.

But, that doesn't mean he needs to. He kneels down so the girl's eyes could meet his. "_Since you can understand me, I think… I know they killed you, I know they feared you, and you have every right to give them a payback. However, killing me does nothing to sate your vengeance. And killing people would make you turn into those mean people. You don't want that, do you?"_

"…" The girl says nothing for the matter.

"_If you could be given a second chance to prove yourself, what would you do? Would you try to talk with them, or you would just kill them in cold-blood? The choice is yours. But, be careful of what you're planning."_

"…"

"_Well then…"_ Thinking that she might take the second one since he does nothing to 'appease' her, Kuro stands up and spreads his arms open, waiting for the bad outcome…

And he's right, as a trunk of wood flies up and pierces through his heart, grounding him. Letting out a laugh filled with blood, Kuro whines: "_Haha… It's going to take longer than I thought…"_

…

"…_It's getting bored…"_ After another death… he stopped counting after the twentieth one, he's starting to lose his patience. "_Are you done yet, Queen? I have many people to save here."_ He lays on the ground while putting his hands on the stomach, making himself comfortable.

"…" The Queen, this time with no plans, sits next to him. She leans towards his face and sees him directly in the eyes.

"…_What?"_ Kuro asks back.

"…_Why?" _This time, the Queen asks him in English.

"_Why what?"_ Kuro narrows his right eye.

"_Why… don't you… submit…"_

"_Submit to what?"_

"…_Deaths…"_

"_Hey, I told you during the time you killed me, right? I need to save the guys and girls in Heavenly Host. I'm the only one with knowledge on how to save them."_

"…_Some… killed… others…"_

"_Hey, darkness. Not saying that it's evil by itself, but human tenses to compare them with each other, and because of that, they always fall to it. Though… only one is in my list of 'not saving' thus far."_

"…_You?"_

"_Well…maybe one day, but not now for sure." _He shrugs.

To his surprise, the Queen moves her head closer to him, then places herself so that both foreheads touch each other. "_Sorry…"_

"_Hey, there's no need to, since you haven't killed me… for real, yet."_

"…_Noticed?"_

"_Wounds automatically healed. Even ghosts don't have that. The attacks would just phase through them."_

"…_Right…" _ The Queen then stands up and uses her power to move a large pile of pointy wood pikes over his body.

"_*Sigh* Seriously?"_

"…_Wake…"_

"…_F**k me."_

* * *

This time, he feels warm. Warmer than when he was in that forest, to be fair.

Kuro opens his eyes to see a wooden ceiling. '_Gio moi quay lai duoc ha?'_ He thinks to himself, before he sits up and notices his collar being a little too dried. He uses his hands to grab it, and sees dried blood. '_Right…'_ He the turns to his left, to see Yui sleeping on the other bed, her arm poorly bandaged. '_…Where could they find a roll of bandages to use?'_ Kuro questions in his mind.

He then slides off the bed, his feet touching the cold floor. Shivering, he starts reaching for his shoes and wears them immediately. Thankfully, the feelings of the watch on his left wrist and the phone in his trousers' left pocket are there. The bad news is that the scissors are not in the other pocket.

'… _Chac ho bo ra roi.' _Not thinking it as the immediately danger, Kuro shrugs and starts walking out of the curtain… to see nobody is around. '_… No kidding?'_ He then sees a scribbling on the table, and he reaches it and reads it in his mind:

'_Yuki told us that the Infirmary is safe, so we decided to leave you here for now and tried to find our other classmates. Please take care of each other._

_Shinozaki Ayumi.'_

'… _Well, at least we're safe… for now.'_ Not wanting to wake up the teacher yet, Kuro quietly checks the cupboard in here. '_Wow, all sorts of medicines. Then again, this is an Infirmary. Let's see… You better have Clorpheniramin, or I'm not going to be okay here…'_

The sound of opening door startles Kuro, as he turns to it to see… a frightened girl with a familiar pair of scissors in her right hand. "_…Why?"_

…

After the confrontation

Kuro looks at Tohko, who's now sleeping on the bed that Kuro has laid on from before. He then looks down at the blood-stained bandage covering his stabbed wound on his right hand. Thankfully there are still enough left to cover the wound, otherwise…

Carefully patting the girl's head with his fine hand, Kuro then pulls out his phone and checks the battery. '_… Fifty percent. This is not good…'_

Somehow, his fight with her caused so little noise that didn't even wake up Yui. Or she's too tired like him. Soon, he yawns. '_Another sleep would be better than none. Those 'deaths' don't count.'_

Pulling down one of the cleaner curtains, gently and soundlessly, Kuro lays it on a wide area. He then lays on it and closes his eyes…

… "*CRACK*!"

'…'

…

"Do you think he's in this side?" Emi asks her friend. She's still having Kuro's coat over her.

"I hope so." Mitsuki replies. "Kuro said that he needs to save everyone, and since we're okay with each other… he might have moved…"

A large chunk of ceiling suddenly falls right before them, causing them to stumble back and fall on their butts in surprise. Dust kicks up, and they cover their mouths with their hands.

The shake stops, and the girls stand up and slowly walk towards the scene… and they see Kuro laying on the debris with a neutral face, the curtain protecting his back a little bit. Emi immediately exclaims: "Kuro! You are alright! What h…"

Kuro raises his finger up, stopping her from speaking further. Mitsuki also plans to ask, but he raises another finger. They stand there and wait… and see Kuro taking a deep breath… and he shouts angrily: "_CAN YOU LET ME SLEEP FOR A GOOD FIVE MINUTES FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE?"_

He then whines as he sits up, and now the girls notice the bandaged right hand. Emi asks worryingly: "_…Kuro? What happened?"_

"…" He then points to the stairs. "_Let's go up and head to the Infirmary. I don't want to talk more for now."_

* * *

Half an hour later…

"Yuuya Kizami?" Mitsuki whispers in shock. "It can't be… how?"

"I… I don't know…" Tohko hiccups. "But… he pushed Tomohiro down the stairs after he kicked Ryosuke's body down before…"

"I saw it with her…" Emi grimaces. "I didn't know what happened… but maybe it's because of this place causing him to do so, because Mitsuki almost tried to run away from us before…"

"I… also tried to kill him…" Tohko cries as she turns to Kuro, who's sitting on a chair and sleeping on it. "He… nearly lost his hand…"

"Tohko, look at me." She turns to Emi. "He didn't blame you, not at all. He understood why you did so, but he told us to tell you to be more careful. If he's like Kizami, then you would be killed."

"I…" She nods sadly. "I understand… please tell him that I'm sorry."

"I will." Emi smiles up, thankful that another one of her friends is saved.

Then, another earthquake occurs, waking Kuro up as he immediately rushes to the girls and pulls Emi and Tohko back away from the hole on the floor of the Infirmary since Mitsuki is far enough from it.

That also wakes up Yui this time, as she opens her eyes to see the shaking ceiling. She immediately sits up and turns right to not see Kuro in the bed, but when she turns left, she sees him with some other girls from an another school, hugging themselves to low down their scare. She immediately rushes to Kuro and asks him: "_Kuro, what's going on here? And…"_ She notices the hole on the floor suddenly starting to fix itself up. "_What was that hole?"_

Kuro twitches his left eye in annoyance. "_Don't ask."_

The hole's then fixed up in front of their eyes, just in time for the earthquake to stop. Once it's over, Kuro stands up and takes a deep breath. He then asks Yui: "_What happened when I was out?"_

As the girl trio is asking each other's safety, Yui answers: "_We immediately brought you back here. You were coughing blood during the time, and the girls moved so we could place you on the bed. After that, they treated the wound on my arm, and wiped out the blood on you as best as they could."_

Kuro nods. "_Thanks. Guess I own you one."_

Yui shakes her head. "_We still own you for saving our lives. Our help didn't hold many values to that._" She then turns to the others. "_Mind introducing them to me?"_

Kuro shrugs. "_It's best to ask them yourself. Speaking in your native language is better, right?"_

…

After the introduction, Kuro asks Emi to give him the coat back, which she immediately complies. He then pulls out the paper in his inner coat's pocket and gives it to Yui: "_Can you translate this to me?"_

The teacher nods and receives the piece and reads the only word on it: "_Seiko… wait! Could it be?"_

"_Could be what?"_ Kuro asks curiously.

"_Seiko dropped this earlier! How did you get it back?"_

"… _Really? Well… I got it after managing to survive against Sachiko." _Kuro confesses.

"_Sachiko? As in the spell?"_ Emi asks in surprise. "_You fought the girl?"_

"_Well, I fought the zombie guy to be fair. I managed to talk her down for a moment. Don't know how long it could work, though."_ He then turns back to Yui. "_Nevertheless, give it back to Seiko immediately. This is the only ticket to get out of here."_

"_What about you?"_ Yui asks back.

"_I have confidence that my friends could keep up and survive. They're much stronger than I am."_ Kuro answers, the lie slowly becoming the truth that no one won't deny the impossibility.

"Miss Yui! Kuro! Are you okay?" Ayumi bursts into the room, followed quickly by the girls. "Oh thank god you…" She's grateful when she sees both of them are fine, a little curious that there are three more girls with them… and horrified when she sees Kuro's bandaged hand. "What happened to your hand, Kuro?"

Kuro notices her gaze towards his hand, so he brings up. "_Oh, this? Stupid ceiling dropping wood from above. Not too serious, mind you."_

Though, Naomi notices one girl flinches, but she doesn't know why. She then asks Yui: "Where are they from?"

Yui answers: "Ah, they're from Byakudan Senior High School." She then says: "How about you girls introduce yourself…"

"_Where is the rest of the guys?"_ Kuro crosses his arms and asks Ayumi, a little displeased that not one of them is with the girls.

"_They recently tried to find the parts the ghosts are finding. They just found something on the floor and…"_

Someone suddenly calls Mayu, so she turns back to see… "Satoshi! You're here?"

"Mayu! Thank god that you are safe!" Everyone immediately turns to the exit to see a happy Satoshi, as he found out another classmate of his. He then notices everyone else… and his face shows his fear when he sees Seiko and Naomi. "H…How did you…"

"Huh? What's wrong, Mochida? Is something on our faces?" Seiko asks in confusion, as she turns to Naomi to see the same on her friend's face. "Nothing is…"

"_Ayumi." _The girl turns to Kuro. "_Ask him… if he saw Naomi and Seiko hanging next to each other in the lavatory."_

She looks horrified. "_What? They are…"_ She then realizes: "_Could it be illusion?"_

"_Obviously."_ Kuro nods.

Ayumi nods and turns back to the scared Satoshi and asks the same question. Satoshi stands there and nods, and starts backing away. Ayumi then tells him to calm down, as she slowly explains the situation.

Upon hearing it, Satoshi takes a moment to digest it… and then sighs in relief. "Thank god…" He walks into the Infirmary then notices Mitsuki. "Hey, wasn't you just running from us earlier?"

"Huh?" She's confused. "I didn't meet you at all. Where did you…"

"_Illusion."_ Kuro says, and Yui translates it. "_Right now we can't really be sure if saving everyone is possible…"_

Ayumi says: "_Don't say it like that! You told me…"_

Kuro holds his hand up and stops her. "_I'm not finished. Do you remember Mayu's case?" _Everyone from Kisaragi nods. "_The 'Mayu' Naomi and Seiko saw is the one we couldn't save anymore. But we managed to avert it by saving…" _He points to the current Mayu. "_Her. So 'everyone' here I include the 'deaths'. Hope you could understand."_

Everyone slowly nods. Mitsuki then asks: "So the 'me' Satoshi saw before…_"_ Kuro shakes his head in respond.

"Wait, I just remembered." Naomi speaks up. "When Seiko was doing her 'work' in the lavatory, I heard Yuka's voice…"

"Then why didn't I… illusion?" Satoshi theorizes.

"_Satoshi, you come with me."_ Kuro walks towards the exit and pulls the student to him. "_We need to find your sister soon."_

"Wait, wait! Let me…" He couldn't protest further.

… "So I guess we're staying!" Seiko says, before groping Naomi again. "More time to spend with my Naomi!"

"Get off Seiko!" Naomi this time protests more, causing the others to start laughing again…

Except Tohko. Mayu notices it, as she asks politely: "Miss, what's wrong?"

"It's… the wound on Kuro's hand…" That causes everyone to turn to her. "It was me… who caused it…"

"… Wait, what?" The girls from Kisaragi ask back, not in anger but confusion. Naomi continues: "Kuro said that it's the ceiling…"

"I was in panic…" Tohko explains. "I couldn't trust anyone. And in that moment… I tried to kill him, and he used his hand to block it…" She raises her right hand so everyone could see the bloodstain on it. "But… he didn't show any angers or so… I don't know what he's thinking…"

"He must know that you're in bad conditions." Yui assures her. "He has been patient all the times, and he knows about this school better than us. Even when he's a little angry or so, he doesn't throw his frustration at us… By the way, Seiko, I think it's yours." Yui then gives the paper to the girl.

Seiko exclaims in surprise: "This is the charm I'm looking for! How did you find it?"

Yui: "I guess it was when he told you to run. He said that he managed to get it from Sachiko herself."

"…Do you all find it strange?" Ayumi suddenly asks out of nowhere, causing everyone to focus at her. "He seems to know way too well about this school. Normally there would be some mistakes here and there, but he could pinpoint everything with perfect accuracy. And I have to mind you all, he is NOT Japanese, and there is NO articles about Heavenly Host written in English."

"Maybe… could it be one of his friends?" Mayu speaks her thinking. "One of them must have learnt English and known about this incident…"

"Remember what happened after we saved you, Mayu? He said that he forgot something, and immediately he was on guard. The moment we walked out, the zombie teacher appeared. There was no sound from outside that time. Coincidence? I think not."

"What are you suggesting?"

"Naomi… he might…"

"Stop, Ayumi." Yui stops the girl.

"You can't see it, Yui-sensei? He's planning something…"

"Darkness." Yui simply says, causing her to close her mouth. "Have you calmed yet?" Earning a nod, she explains: "Kuro told me earlier about darkness. It could corrupt your mind without you noticing. Tohko attacking Kuro earlier is one of the results. It might affect you even more."

"…" Ayumi starts taking deep breathes to try to clear her mind.

"I think you should take a rest now." Mayu then pushes Naomi and Ayumi towards the bed. "You too, Naomi. You have been affected by this school the most in our group."

"…I guess you're right." The former agrees.

"…I will try…" The latter replies uncertainly.


	6. Chapter 6

**Thanks again, FirstWinterLight. Although... I want to say something, but it would spoil a lot. Enjoy your reading, then!**

* * *

"Big Brother… I'm scared…" Yuka whines, as she hides herself in the boy's lavatory in the Second Wing. Morishige is her brother's friend, but right now he looks way too mysterious to her. She's afraid that he might do something to her.

Then, she hears footsteps coming from the outside… and moments later, a ghost with a bloodied eye socket walks in, causing Yuka to stumble back and yelp in fear.

In any other circumstances, she would be dead. However: "Don't be scared. I'm not going to hurt you."

"…Huh?" Yuka asks back in confusion. "You were chasing me back then…"

"That… was a past…" The ghost replies. "Your brother is looking for you. Try heading back to the main hall." With that, the ghost turns to the exit and walks away.

"…He's looking for me…" Yuka registers the fact. "I should go to the main hall." With the objective in her mind, she walks out of the lavatory…

And she bumps into a certain student from Byakudan Senior High School. "Kyah!" Yuka falls on her back, whines a bit because of the impact.

"Oh, my apology." The person speaks up, then offers a helping hand to Yuka. "Can you stand up?"

After seeing him being friendly, Yuka nods and grabs his hand, and he pulls her up. Once on her feet, she bows and speaks: "I'm sorry for bumping into you. My name is Mochida Yuka."

"Mine's Kizami Yuuya." He replies. "Yuka, was it? Were you also spirited away here after performing the forbidden Sachiko charm?"

"Um… I'm not so sure…" Yuka is having doubt. "But, I did do a charm with the name in it…"

"I see… If I'm right, you were calling for your 'big brother', right?" He earns a nod from the girl. "Going alone is too dangerous for a small girl like you. How about I accompany you…"

"YUKA!" The voices of two persons are calling out for a certain girl. "WHERE ARE YOU?"

"…That's my brother!" Yuka says in disbelief. "She's right…"

"… I heard two voices." Kizami recognizes. "Are you sure one of them is your brother?"

Yuka nods. "I'm sure."

The two then head to the main hall, just in time to face Satoshi and Kuro, the latter is checking the fallen cabinet on the floor. Upon seeing her brother, Yuka immediately runs to him and wraps her arms around his neck in happiness. "Big brother! You're back!"

Startled a bit, Satoshi acknowledges the girl and hugs her back. "I'm here, Yuka. I'm sorry for leaving you…" He then notices Kizami standing behind the girl. "Oh, hello. Did you take care of my little sister back then?"

"… Ah, no." Kizami finds his voice back after a small moment of silence. "I was just meeting her. She was a little afraid when I found her."

"I can see why." Satoshi pats Yuka's head, before prying her arms out. "We need to return back with the others. Kuro!" He shouts to the person, who turns his head back to him. Satoshi points his thumb towards the exit, and Kuro nods. He then turns back to Kizami and introduces: "My name is Mochida Satoshi, and you have met my sister. He's Kuro, and unfortunately he couldn't understand Japanese."

"… The name's Kizami Yuuya." The person replies. "It's nice to meet you."

"To you as well." Kuro has reached the door and waves at them. "Let's go, shall we?"

* * *

"How the hell… could Kuro withstand this?" Yoshiki grunts, as Morishige picks up the bag that contains Tokiko's tongue. The pool's water has been extracted, leaving behind the corpses of unfortunate souls.

"He might have seen things like this before. And we don't really know how long he has been here. He must have gotten used to this before we met him." The megane theorizes. He then asks Taguchi: "Can you hold on for that bag? The other one I mean."

"Ah, it's okay… I will get used to it soon…" The cameraman says nervously. They have found Ryou's bag near the red-door room before heading to the pool. "But, man, hiding those things away. It's too cruel for the kids."

"It is. Let's return back before the girls panic. But, since Kuro and miss Yui are there, I think there's not much of a problem." Yoshiki says, earning nods from his companions.

Although… when they reach the way that leads to the 'supposed exit' of the school, they meet the girl trio from Musashigawa school who emerges from the direction. Chihaya backs away for a second before release a relief sigh. "Thank god you're not the ghosts…"

Taguchi does the same and says: "My goodness, more people? Man, now I feel less and less afraid now."

Yoshiki grins. "The same now." He then asks: "Were three of you the only group?"

Nana shakes her head. "I'm not sure myself…"

Morishige suggests: "Then we should stick with each other, the more the merrier. Oh, my name is Morishige Sakutaro, and they are…"

"Morishige?" Nana interrupts. "Did you know who Mayu is?"

"You know her?" The megane asks in disbelief.

"Uh-huh. We were in our respective theater clubs, so we sometimes met each other."

Yoshiki: "Well that's convenience." Then, everyone turns to the door that leads to the Second Wing as footsteps can be heard from there. And the door opens, revealing Kuro's group. "Kuro? When did you wake up?"

Hearing his voice, Satoshi recognizes: "Kishinuma? Is that you?" When the two groups are close enough, Satoshi sees another familiar face. "You too, Morishige?"

"Ah, Mochida. It seems you found your sister as well." Morishige looks at the group and sees someone he doesn't recognize. "May I ask whom you found here?"

Taguchi raises his camera up, only for Kuro to grab his shoulder and pull him towards a space away from the groups, earning looks of curiosity from the others. "_Hey, what gives, Kuro?"_

Kuro, once confirming that no one would hear them, whispers: "_Listen very careful…"_

Meanwhile, Nari asks Satoshi: "You know this guy?"

The boy nods. "He was helping us finding our friends."

Morishige takes a quick glance towards Kuro and Taguchi, before continues: "But, he was knocked unconscious after, what I heard from another girl, being fallen through floors and getting hit by the zombie man. Seeing him recovering that fast is quite surprising."

Kizami changes the subject: "Do you happen to find someone from my group?"

Satoshi: "Before we headed to the Second Wing, I saw a group of three girls, not them *glance towards Nana's group*, in the Infirmary. Maybe…"

"Hey, Kizami…" The student turns to the nervous cameraman. "Can you go with Kuro for a moment? He said that he needs to go somewhere that requires two persons to do the trick."

"…Okay…" Kizami then sees Taguchi confirming to Kuro, and the person nods then gestures for him to follow. The two then say their goodbye to the big group and go to another way.

Yoshiki asks: "What did Kuro tell you?"

"I am not sure myself." Taguchi scratches his head. "He just told me what I just said."

Morishige turns suspicious. "That's not a reason to pull you away from us."

"… Let's return to the Infirmary, and ask the girls something."

* * *

"It's you Nana!" Mayu hugs the girl the moment she walks into the Infirmary.

"It's great to see you as well Mayu!" Nana hugs back. "Seriously, we have wandered for so long! Finally we found someone alive!"

"Don't rule out Kuro like that." Nari lightly accuses. "But yeah, other than him, we only found some ghosts and corpses. Not exactly pleasant."

After everyone's in the Infirmary, Taguchi walks to the girls from Byakudan school, and asks: "Are you three… do you know someone whose name is Kizami?"

Immediately, the girls tense up. Noticing that, Yoshiki asks Ayumi: "Hey, Shinozaki. What's that about?"

"…Sit down. It's not a pretty story…" Yui suggests, and everyone picks up a comfortable spot for their own on the floor. Yui looks at Tohko and says: "You might have seen the bandages on Kuro's right hand, right? It was caused by her."

"… I guess there's a reason behind it, right?" Morishige asks, not exactly in anger.

The girl nods. "It's… before I met him… Kizami Yuuya chased me and tried to kill me." That earns gasps from people who haven't heard about it. "However, during the chase, an earthquake occurred and I fell into a hole, and into this part of the school. I stood up and ran away, and then I saw a pair of scissors just right outside of the Infirmary. Holding it on my hands, I entered the room and saw Kuro… in a panic…" She swallowed hard. "That's… mostly it." Then, she asks: "Where is he now?"

"He… is with Kizami now." Taguchi reveals. "Saying that he needs him to…"

"Then we need to chase him now!" Emi pleads. "With the wounds he has, he couldn't defend himself if Kizami tried to kill him."

"Then we need to go all out. We can't leave anyone behind." Satoshi says. "The moment a door closes, we could be sent into anywhere we couldn't know."

"…e…a…i…" Everyone turns to the door, to see the three ghosts standing there. Everyone immediately backs away in surprise, with the boys standing between the ghosts and the girls. The voice comes from Tokiko.

"Sorry about it. She and Ryou are eager to have their tongues back." Yuki bows apologetically.

"The t… alright." Taguchi recognizes what she's talking about, and pulls out the two bags. "Here they are." The cameraman slowly walks to them and raises the bags towards them. Then, the items in the bags disappear, leaving the empty bags in Taguchi's hand.

"…Thank you…" Ryou bows thankfully, with the other two follow.

"Well, at least now we have appeased you three." Shinozaki relieves. "Can you step aside? We need to find Kuro, he's in danger!"

The ghosts nod and stand out of the exit, as everyone exits the Infirmary and heads to the stairs… with Yui and Taguchi stay back a little, as the former asks with a whisper tone: "It's more than that, isn't it? Kuro knows something…"

Taguchi nods. "It is. He's planning to…"

"You two…" The two turn to Yuki. "We need to tell you something. Can you keep this a secret, please? At least, until you leave Heavenly Host."

"What is it?" Taguchi asks.

"It's… about Kuro…" Ryou replies. "… **He could never leave this place on his own.**"

"… You are joking right?" Yui asks in disbelief. "Then, what about us?"

"You could, but only after Sachiko is appeased." Yuki reveals. "Kuro told you everything… except one thing. It was how he appeared in here."

Taguchi: "…Didn't he also perform the charm?"

Yuki: "… Turned out, it's not. When he appeared, he was alone. There's no other souls with him during that time."

Yui gasps. "It's… it's not possible, right? The charm…"

"And that's what we only found out. When we were still in our darkening state, we didn't mind it. However, after he told us that he would find them for us, we took a look around to see if the people he talked about were in here…"

Taguchi: "And there's none."

The ghosts nod.

Yui: "…You said that he couldn't do it alone, right? That doesn't mean that WE couldn't save him… right?"

Yuki nods. "However, you can't do it here. We want to ask you to find another way, when you're out of this place. Maybe there's some ways to help him."

Taguchi gets the message. "Right then… we should leave now. Thanks for telling us that."

Yui: "Take care of yourself."

"Be careful." The ghost kids bow, as the two return to their group.

* * *

"_I have thought that you're just being affected by Darkness."_ Kuro says in a low tone, after he manages to dodge a swing from Kizami's arm and backs away. "_But, I guess I'm too optimistic of the matter._"

"HAHAHA! You seriously think you can kill me?" Kizami laughs. "You couldn't even hold the scissors properly! HAHAHA!"

Even when he can't understand it, Kuro understands that Kizami is taunting him. And he knows that he couldn't let the fight last longer. "_Hm…"_ Lowering his stance, he reaches into something in his left pocket of the coat. "_One second… is all it needs…"_

"DIE!" Running towards Kuro, Kizami aims his punch towards Kuro's head…

Only for Kuro to dodge to the left, and pull out his earphone. He then wraps it around Kizami's neck and pulls it hard, choking the taller student in the process. The crazy psychopath tries to use his elbows to hit Kuro, but Kuro soon kicks Kizami's back with his knee, stunning him for a second, before quickly stabs the scissors towards his opponent's heart. Hearing the person gasp in pain, Kuro uses the earphone to pull Kizami towards the stairs, pulls the scissors out and cuts Kizami's throat, destroying his vocal cord. Feeling the resistance falling, Kuro then retracts his earphone and kicks Kizami down to the stairs.

The psychopath tries to close the wounds with his hands, but a cut in the throat is not that easy to be covered. Kuro slowly walks down to the stairs and pulls out a lighter and a candle he received from Shinozaki. "_To be honest, I don't like this. But… to make sure that you're not going to hurt us…"_ Lightening up the candle, Kuro throws it to Kizami's body, and by a miracle, his body catches on fire quickly. Kuro backs away so no accidents, and watches the person's body turning into ashes. "_…One less problem…"_

"_Didn't take you for someone who likes to kill."_ He turns back, and for a second he thought he saw the Queen, but turned out to be Sachiko standing there. And for some reasons she's speaking English.

"_Obviously not… so, you planned to kill me now?"_

"…" Instead of answering, Sachiko turns and walks away.

"… _Guess that's a 'not yet' then?_" Can't be too optimistic about it. He then hears footsteps from under, so he guesses that the group is trying to find him. "_Well... let's get out of here first."_ Kuro walks up to the upper floor and takes a few steps… before the floor cracks. "_…I… seriously?"_

* * *

"_Well… I nailed the landing this time._" Kuro manages to land on his feet this time. "_But damn, that still hurts."_ Slowly standing up, he looks around to see that he's in the Second Wing again… in the Music room to be exact. "_Welp. Let's see if I could find it again…"_ Going to a certain table, he looks into its drawer… and finds a bottle of holy water instead. "_Not shoes? Strange…" _Nevertheless, he has something to defend himself…

Suddenly something cold stands behind him, and he immediately reaches for the cap of the bottle as he turns back… to see the only ghost in the Music room. He breathes out and grabs his chest where the heart is in surprise. "_Vai lua. Lam toi het hon…_" He then moves around the table so he wouldn't bother her… and she starts following him. "_Um… girl?"_ She just stares at him blankly. "_Hm… well, if you want to…"_ Since she's not dangerous, he thinks, there's no points to stop her.

After exiting the Music room, Kuro heads to the second floor, with Akaboji following behind him. Once he is near the green slime, he picks up a fragment of wood nearby and throws it into the slime and watches the wood being consumed by the thing, which also creates some smoke. "_… Acid blob?"_ Opening the cap of the bottle, Kuro lets one drop of holy water to fall out and land on the slime… and it just stay on the slime. "_… Seriously?"_

Seeing that he couldn't do anything to it, for now, he leaves and heads to the girl's dormitory where the seal is still there. He claps his hands before his chest before praying for the lost souls. He then heads to the Headmaster's office to see if he could burst it open.

…Planned to, to be exact.

"Who are you?"

'… _Ah, question of the day.'_ Kuro chuckles to himself in his mind as he turns to see Kurosaki Kensuke standing at the door that leads to the main hall. He raises his right hand and waves at the person, only for him to back away in surprise. Seeing that, Kuro looks back at his right hand… "...Oops. Sorry." He quickly retracts it and raises his left and waves again. Though, the person is looking for someone else over his back, so Kuro turns to see Akaboji staring at Kensuke. "…Oh." Kuro quickly points the ghost with his right hand while raising a thumb up, gesturing that she's okay.

After a small moment, Kensuke sighs in relief, before he walks closer to him and says: "Oh finally, man! I was looking forever for anyone here that wasn't dead! Dude, you have no idea how happy I am right now! Do you know what the hell this place is? And…" He then notices Kuro is smiling forcefully. "Uh, what's wrong?"

"_I… don't understand that."_ Kuro replies.

"…What did you just say?" Kensuke questions.

"He can't understand you." The two males turn to the ghost. "I can understand him, though. So just ask me…"

"_Wait… you can speak?"_ Kuro interrupts. Akaboji nods. "_And…understand me?"_ Nod, with a giggle. Immediately Kuro throws a tantrum: "_Then you could just have said something to me! I thought I have to deal with the silence if he didn't come!"_

"Sorry, sorry." The girl giggles, then notices that Kensuke is looking at them funnily. She explains: "Kuro's just a bit upset that I didn't talk to him when I met him, that's all." After throwing some more shouts, Kuro turns to another direction and pouts.

"… His name is Kuro?"

"Ah no, that's what I heard from the other girls… Actually, I think they're from the same school as yours."

"Really? Where are they now?"

"That… we have to ask him." Akaboji then calls: "_Kuro. Where's the girls you were with before?_"

"_Them? With a big group from another school. They're probably safe in number."_

"Can you lead me to them?"

"_Well… I could. But since they're safe, I think that we should find the rest of your group first._"

Then, another earthquake occurs, causing the two survivors to fall to the floor. "Woah! That's a surprise!"

"_Yeah… it means that we're in a different dimension now._" It lasts just for a few seconds, and Kuro comments on it.

"_I can't feel anything, though."_

"_That's because you're floating."_ Kuro deadpans. "_And being dead helps that as well._"

Kensuke stands up first and gives a helping hand to Kuro, who gladly accepts it. "So… you were separated from your friends, too? Why don't you find them?"

"_I'm sure they're safe by themselves. I met them a while ago already._"

"Well…if you say so." Then, Kensuke asks: "Is it just me, or the air here feels colder?"

"_Since we don't know where we end up… and I feel it like you."_ Kuro says. He then looks out of the window to see the raining sky. "_It's raining now…"_

Then, both of them suddenly hear screaming from the direction to the stairs just right where Kensuke emerged from. The trio rush out and to the location…

And see a body down to the stairs. It belongs to a friend of Kensuke, unfortunately. "R…Ryosuke? NO!" Running down, the scared male slowly kneels down to the body and flips it over, only to confirm his fear. "NO! NO! NO! It can't be happening! Emi just died, and now you? I… I can't…"

"…" Kuro decides to leave the boy a few seconds to mourn, as he walks up a bit further, to try to find if there are footsteps nearby… and he then hears another scream. He immediately turns to Kensuke and calls for him: "_We need to go, now. That scream could be one of your friends!"_

A little startled, Kensuke stands up and nods, while there are still tears in his eyes. The ghost girl simply floats with them, as they run out to find who just screamed.

Half a minute later, they find the source: One of Kensuke's classmate is dead with a knife through his torso, while another is crying for him. Kensuke, though his sadness deepens because of the dead one, is relieved that at least one of his friends is still living. "OHKAWA!"

The brown-haired boy looks up with teary eyes, and luckily he still has some senses left. "K…Kensuke? Is that you?"

The person in question immediately hugs the living one and says between breathes: "Thank god! I just saw Emi and Ryosuke's body…"

When the two start trying to talk it out, Kuro observes Kai's dead body from afar. Akaboji whispers: "_Do you know who caused this?"_

"_I do. But… this is not going to be fun."_ Kuro scratches his head in annoyance.

Ohkawa then notices Akaboji… and he screams in surprise. Startled by it, Kensuke asks in concern: "What's wrong?" The afraid boy points at the ghost girl, and after seeing that, he assures: "Don't worry. They're not going to hurt you." With that, Kuro raises his hand up to wave at them with a smile. "See?"

After a minute of trying to calm himself down, Ohkawa stables his breath and says: "My apology. I was… in a panic…"

"_It's alright."_ Kuro understands the 'apology' part, but not the rest.

Hearing the response being in English, Ohkawa asks Kensuke: "Why is he speaking English?"

"Oh… He just can't speak Japanese." His friend explains.

"I see…" Ohkawa stands up and offers a handshake. "_My name is Ohkawa Tomohiro. Nice to meet you."_

"_To you as well." _Kuro shakes it. He then looks at the dead body. "_He's your friend?"_

"_He is…" _The boy responds sadly. "_And Ryosuke back there…"_

"_What if I tell you that there's a small chance that we could save them?"_ Kuro immediately suggests, earning widened eyes from the others. "_I'm not joking. I found the girls from your group, INCLUDING Emi, mind you Kensuke. However… it will be much harder to save these two…"_ He points to the corpse with them, and the location where another one is. "_Since it involves some… very tricky earthquakes for this to work."_

"As long as there's a way!" Kensuke pleads. "Please save them!" That earns him a blank stare, causing him to remember that Kuro couldn't understand him. "Oh, sorry… Ohkawa, can you help?"

After hearing it from the brown-haired boy, Kuro says: "_I'm planning to do so, so don't have to tell me twice. However… I'm not very sure if we could do it immediately. It requires the earthquake to send us at the right moment."_

"It's really that hard?" Kensuke asks.

"_Yeah. The earthquake could send us to a random point of time. And that leads to dimensions as well. So… right now, I need to ask you to also help me saving the others as well, no matter who it is._"

"_Not that bastard…"_ Ohkawa grunts.

"Who?" Kensuke asks his friend.

"Kizami Yuuya…" Kuro then taps Ohkawa's shoulder, as he turns to see Kuro pointing at the bloodstain on his coat. "_What?"_ Kuro then pulls out the bloody scissors, which causes the other males to back away in afraid, then he puts it around his neck and makes a 'cut' gesture. "…_Wait… you killed him?"_

"_Once."_ Kuro reveals. "_But… since we're here… I guess I have to kill him again…"_


	7. Chapter 7

**If you haven't noticed, FirstWinterLight, isolono already spoiled out the ending of this story since the first chapter. Other than that, thanks for the compliment.**

* * *

"So all we could do now is to wait for another earthquake to come?" Helping Kuro moving Kai's body into an empty room, Kensuke asks.

"_Basically. Although, we could try to find something useful in this building."_ Kuro replies.

"_You seem to know this school very well." _Ohkawa comments at the knowledge Kuro seemingly has in his mind.

"_We managed to dig up some information about the name of the spell and make connections with the school itself. And… we're a bunch of sympathetic people, go figure."_

"_None of you questioned about its impossibility?"_

"_We did, Akaboji. However… after finding out some truths about the charm, we could say that being real."_

"_Hey, you should take some rest."_ Ohkawa notices the blood trickling from Kuro's right hand. "_That wound of yours is deep…"_

"_It will be fine." _Kuro says, even though he's gritting his teeth in pain. "_It would have already been infected."_

"…That's a casual reaction if I see one." Kensuke deadpans.

"_It's better than death."_ That earns him nods of agreement.

"_But… we also need to find Masato as well."_ Ohkawa is concerned. "_Do you happen to meet him anywhere?"_

"_Unfortunately, that's a no."_ Kuro shakes his head in denial.

After moving Ryosuke's body as well, the group walks up to the top floor, with Kuro leading up. Kensuke asks curiously: "What are you planning to do here?"

"_Testing if I'm strong enough or not."_ Standing before the door, Kuro gives it a hard kick, but it doesn't move. "_Really?"_ Giving two more kicks, no results.

"_I think you are a bit…"_

"_The door isn't even budged at all, Akaboji."_ Using his shoulder this time, he rams himself into the door… only for something to stop him reaching the door just a centimeter away, and push him out. "_… So we DO need a key… damn."_

"If you know so, then why don't you find it first?" Kensuke asks in confusion.

As for a response for that, everyone suddenly hears a man screaming from outside, followed by a splashing sound. Kuro sighs. "_That's my answer. Let's go to the…"_

* * *

"… No wonder…" Sayaka whispers to Taguchi after hearing the truth from him. "Maybe Naho might know a way. We should find her."

"I think the others would be against it." The cameraman whispers back. "They're not trusting Naho after Kuro pointed out that Naho gave them the false charm."

"Then… do you think he did have a way to escape by himself, but he didn't tell us?"

"The ghosts know everything. And they didn't seem to hide it when they told us about Kuro's conditions."

"Hey, Taguchi, Sayaka!" Yoshiki calls them, as the boys find something on the ground. "Do you two know what this is?"

Running to the front (the duo stay behind with Yui to make sure their behind is covered), Sayaka sees the item in Morishige's hand. "That's… that's one of the cassettes you have, right?"

"Yeah." Taguchi replies. He then receives the cassette and looks over it… then pulls out his own. "Wait…" Replacing the new cassette, he starts the record… and sees it being the moment when Naomi hung Seiko up, successfully. "That's… this could happen if Kuro and I didn't stop her…"

From behind, Naomi gasps in shock, but Seiko and Ayumi immediately try to comfort her by saying that her friend is still alive.

"And this…" Satoshi picks up a red key. "Yoshiki mentioned that they saw a red door that's stuck before. Maybe this is the key for it."

"How about this? Taguchi and Sayaka will observe the room, while we separate into small groups to look around…"

"I would be against it." Morishige disagrees.

"I'm not saying to run too far." Yoshiki explains. "Just a few steps. If one gets into trouble, the others could help instantly."

"…Okay then." Morishige reluctantly nods.

Receiving the key, Taguchi and Sayaka heads to the location Yoshiki pointed at, and they find the door that the key fits…

When they enter, they find a TV with a small camcorder on top of it… and a disgusting smell that causes both of them to cover their nose. Sayaka comments: "Urgh, that stinks…"

"Tell me about it…" Taguchi then walks to the camcorder… "Wait! This is Hibiki's camcorder!"

"Wait really?" Sayaka rushes to him.

"Yes!" Taguchi exclaims. Then, unconsciously, he looks towards the closet. "…The smell comes from there…"

The two cautiously tip-toe there, and Taguchi slides the door open slowly…

"!" And the corpses of their friends reveals. "No…" Both of them say at the same time. Taguchi then backs away in fear, but he's still able to speak: "Naho… and now Kibiki…"

"I'm glad you two are still alive." The ghost of said person suddenly appears, causing Sayaka to back away to the red door in surprise.

Though, Taguchi manages to calm himself and asks: "Kibiki… is that really you?"

"I am." The ghost nods. "Sorry for separating from you… but I guess if you are still alive, then it's okay…"

Sayaka, after taking a moment to calm down, asks: "Kibiki… how did you die?"

The ghost of the novelist shakes his head. "I… wouldn't like to talk about that. But… I guess you two could guess if you saw our corpses earlier…"

"It…it's impossible!" Sayaka doesn't believe that. "Naho… Naho couldn't…"

"The Darkening." Taguchi interrupts. "Naho herself wouldn't do so, as Sayaka said. But, with that happened, it's only a matter of time."

"…It seems you found more details about this than me." Kibiki smiles. "Did you find out who's the one responsible for this?"

The cameraman scratches his head. "Well… it's not me, but another guy. He calls himself Kuro, and he's currently working on converting this disaster."

"Hm… I haven't heard a name like that…"

"Kibiki…" The ghost turns to Sayaka. "… How could we get out of here?"

"Kuro told us to hold on the Sachiko charm." Taguchi says. "It's very important, right?"

The novelist nods. "Yes. However, right now you can't escape. The school's covered with a strong spiritual field, created by Sachiko Shinozaki."

"The girl in red?" Taguchi asks.

"That's right. And she's also powered by Naho's spiritual strength as well. If you want to escape, you have to manage to stop both of them."

"… I think… maybe Sachiko's no longer a problem."

Kibiki crosses his arms in confusion. "Why are you saying that, Taguchi?"

"You don't know yet, but somehow Kuro managed to survive all of his encounters with her. And he seemed to know nearly all corners of this place, about the other ghost kids being killed by Sachiko, and the teacher not being the real killer." Then Taguchi changes the subject: "And speaking of him… how many ways can we escape this place? And… can we escape alone?"

"That… is impossible. Since the spell has to be performed with at least two people, escaping does also require the minimum number of being two."

"Then… how did he get here?" Sayaka asks. "Kuro, I mean. The ghost children said that nobody entered this place with him…"

"**Believe it or not, he's not supposed to be here.**" All three turn to the red door, and the alive ones gasp in surprise. Standing in the room with them right now is a man that looks identical to Kuro, wearing a black outfit from head to toe, with a black fedora and a black scarf that covers his lower face. "**And neither is my existence.**"

"K…Kuro?" Both of the alive ones exclaim. "When were you able to speak Japanese?"

"So that's Kuro, huh?" Kibiki comments. "Hm, for a person like…"

"**I'm not Kuro.**" The person interrupts. "**I'm no human either. I'm just a being that has his face and voice.**"

Silence.

"Then, why are you here?" Kibiki then asks.

"Just to confirm something for you." The person replies. "And don't worry about Kuro himself. He knows what he needs to do. And Kibiki… even though you won't be able to return back to the real world, **your counterpart will replace your position.**" And with that, the man vanishes.

… Taguchi speaks up first, after a whole minutes of another silence: "What… just happened?"

"I'm…not sure." Kibiki replies, also confused at the event. "That man… he said that Kuro wasn't supposed to be here… what does that mean?"

"…I think that, we should…"

Before Sayaka could finish her words, someone rushes into the room. "Hey, Taguchi, Sayaka, you took a little too…" Yoshiki asks, before noticing a new ghost in the room. "Woah, another one?"

Taguchi notices that he's staring at Kibiki. He answers: "Ah… right, yeah. He's my boss…"

* * *

"_Now you know my pain."_ Kuro grunts, as he tries to sit up, but he uses his right hand to push himself up, so… "_Ouch. That's more painful than I thought."_

"Dude, at this point, you might need to cut that hand…"

"_And let it bleed me to death? No thanks."_ Grabbing his left hand over his right to try to close the wound, Kuro looks forward and feels the change of coldness in the air. "_…Can't say when we are now…"_

"_I believe that we're in the past."_ Akaboji replies. "_I don't feel too many souls in here…"_

"What can we do here, then?" Ohkawa asks, first in Japanese then translates it for Kuro.

"How about trying to see if our group was still intact?"

"_We're currently in the First Wing. You guys dropped in from the Second Wing… and I see no ways to get there."_ Turning to their back, they see a wall that's supposed to be the exit to the bridge that connects the wings. "_And this hallway is… currently clean, meaning there are not many people getting in here… yet."_

Ohkawa is about to retort, but then remembers that they're in a different time and dimension. "_Those earthquakes are… random, right? Should we just wait for the next one to arrive?"_

"_Hm… let's just do a little check around. Maybe we could find…"_

At that moment, Kuro suddenly feels a shiver on his back, despite that he doesn't see anything dangerous, in his field of sight. He immediately raises his finger and puts it over his lips, signaling everyone to be quiet. Once it's done, Kuro slowly walks to a corner and peaks his head out…

…Nothing.

The rest follows him, and once they see no dangers, Ohkawa asks: "_What is that, Kuro?"_

"…_I'm… not very sure…"_ He admits. "_For a second I felt cold on the back."_

"Maybe that's just you being paranoid." Kensuke jokes.

"…_Maybe… Alright, let's move up."_

…

"…" Kuro scratches his chin in suspicion. So far, they haven't encountered anything strange, with no corpses as well. For a haunted school and after what they faced… this gives him a strange feeling.

"Isn't it good? Nothing is after us for now." Kensuke is underestimating the situation.

"…_With a vengeance soul in charge of this place, I doubt that we have a good floor to relax."_

"_Then what do you suggest?"_ Akaboji asks.

"…_Let's find an Infirmary. If we're lucky, maybe we would be able to find the dead teacher from years ago."_

"_The zombie guy?"_

"_No, Ohkawa. Sachiko's mother is whom I'm aiming at, for now."_

With that, everyone starts heading to the second floor, where Kuro believes the Infirmary to be there. And it's true that there's one, but… it's locked.

"_That's… well then."_ Kuro shrugs. "_Not the worst thing it could happen."_

However… the moment Kuro backs away, the door opens by itself. "…" Everyone doesn't say a word while looking at each other. But, one thing comes to their minds: This is a warning sign.

With a nod, Kuro steps forward with the scissors in his left hand, due to his right being hurt too bad. He goes in first, followed by the living duo, and the ghost girl floats in last…

When the group is in, the door closes behind them. Immediately Kuro raises the scissors in defend, as Ohkawa and Kensuke try to pry the door open, with no success. The injured male takes a quick look around to see anything abnormal points in the room, as he slowly steps forward…

Then, writing sounds appear, and Kuro snaps his head towards the only table in the room, and a black figure can be seen through the curtain. Swallowing hard, Kuro calls out the only possible name: "Yoshie… Shinozaki…"

Instantly, the figure stops writing, and its head turns right at him…

…

"_Ouch…" _Kuro raises his left hand up and grabs his head in pain. "_That freaking hurt…"_

He then turns to his left, to see Yoshie sitting on the chair, which is moved near the bed he's lying on. Said teacher is having a sad expression on her face. "_I'm sorry…"_

"…" He then remembers the memories he watched after the massive headache that knocked him out. "_It's… fine… Where is everyone?"_

"_The two students are finding some ways to find their friends."_ She then looks at Kuro's right hand. "_And we have used another pack of bandages to cover it, but the wound is already infected."_

Kuro raises his right hand up, and true to her words, it's covered with a brand new bandage. "_At least it doesn't look ugly anymore. Thanks."_ Sitting up, Kuro then reaches for his shoes. "_Thanks for not killing me. But I need to move now. Sachiko wouldn't wait for me to save these guys."_

Yoshie stops him after he takes three steps away: "_Kuro… do you believe that… you can save everyone?"_

"… _That's impossible, both of us know it."_ Kuro replies. "_One must make a sacrifice to do so, and even when it happens…"_

"_Why do you have to do so?"_

"…_It's a right thing to do."_

"… _I won't stop you. However, before you leave…" _Yoshie stands up and gives Kuro a small plushie. "_I was planning to give it to my daughter in her birthday… please give her my wish."_

Kuro turns the plushie over, before asking: "_Shouldn't you be the one doing so?"_

"_I… I can't leave this place, if you haven't noticed."_

"_Hm… was it because of Sachiko?"_

"…_Yes."_

"… _Maybe that one could help…"_

"_What do you have in mind?"_

"…_Book of Shadow. It might work."_

Yoshie shakes her head. "_Impossible. It is in the real world at the moment."_

"_Ah, that's bad." _Scratching his head again, Kuro then stuffs the plushie into his inner coat's pocket. "_Well, we will make do."_

"_About Takamine…"_ Yoshie's voice holds disgust. "_Do you seriously plan to 'save' him as well?"_

"… _To be fair… We CAN give him a chance. We human tends to…commit sins in the most unexpected time."_

"…_If you think so…Goodbye…"_

"_Take care of yourself."_ And with that he leaves the Infirmary.

"…" Returning to her diary, Yoshie starts writing in it. While praying for Kuro to survive the ordeals…

…

Another earthquake, but this time Kuro doesn't get thrown into another hole. Meaning that he still has work in this dimension.

"_It ra thi, cai tay gio dung duoc roi."_ Kuro says to himself, as he looks at the new bandage. "_If everything's done correctly, maybe I will try to help her escaping that room."_

Walking down to the stairs, Kuro yawns with his eyes half-closing and his left hand covering his mouth. "_I should take a nap after dealing with Sachiko… this is so tiresome…"_

Then, he hears footsteps from an intersection. Not clearly in mind, Kuro casually walks towards to see who is still in this dimension…

And he sees a person covered in Darkening magic walking to him…

Kuro pulls his glasses out and cleans the lens with his shirt, puts back up and narrows his eyes to see who that is… and he sees a pair of glasses on the person's face. "_Well… that makes my work easier… or harder, depends on whose perspective."_

* * *

"So Sachiko is truly the culprit…" The still-alive Kibiki says to himself during his research in the library. "If I can exorcise her, then the school might disappear. I need to ask Naho to do so…" Putting the books back to the shelf, he exits the library and heads down to the first floor…

However, when he reaches the second floor, he then hears some crashing sounds in the first floor. Taking caution, he walks slower while preparing for the worst. "Probably some ghosts trying to mess things up…"

The moment he reaches half-way of the stairs connecting the first and second floor, something flies across his vision from right to left, followed by a hard landing sound. Surprised, but out of curiosity, Kibiki walks out and enters the hall then turns to the left, to see a male lying on his back with a bloodstream coming from his head. Kibiki rushes to the person and checks on him, to see him still being alive. He tries to wipe the blood away with his sleeves while asking: "What happened? Did you fall on something?"

"_Kibiki?"_ The person, his right eye closing because of the blood, looks at the novelist with a widened left eye. "_You… you have to run! Naho is trying to kill you!"_

"…Huh?" He's surprised by two things: The person is speaking to him in English instead of Japanese, and he just warned him about…

"Sensei…" He freezes up in fear as the tone of the person is extremely creepy. And when he turns back, the blood on his face drains away, as he sees a crazy Naho walking to the two males, with a dark smoke coming out of her. "I found you…"

"_RUN KIBIKI!"_ The person then stands up, ignores the wound on his head, as he rushes straight to the possessed Naho, his fist aiming at the girl's forehead. However, the punch couldn't reach the target, as the Darkening blocks the attack, and it then throws the person right at the wall nearby. The direct hit to the wall causes the person to cough out blood, and he tries to push himself off the ground to continue fighting. Though, he sees Kibiki being frozen in place, the person shouts again: "_Kibiki! For f**k sake, RUN!"_

Snapping out of shock, Kibiki plans to rush to the person, however he told him to leave him behind, since the novelist is now a target to the possessed girl. Not wanting to die, Kibiki says his sorry to the person, before running away with Naho immediately giving chase.

After a few minutes running in circles, Kibiki reaches the Infirmary in the Second Floor, and he swings the door open and rushes inside, then tries to close it. However, Naho, with Darkening strengthening her, manages to stop his work and fling open the door, causing the novelist to fall to the floor due to the sudden event. Then, Naho uses both of her hands and grabs Kibiki's neck, choking him while grounding him. He tries to fight back, but he is no match to the possessed girl.

The girl then shouts at his face, asking why he left her back there, saying that she was being good for his sake. He tries to reply back, but his words fall on deaf ears, as he feels the grip getting stronger and stronger. And then, at that moment, he hears Sachiko whispering to Naho the last push to kill him…

In the nick of time, the person from before bursts into the room with the holy water bottle in hand, as he splashes the water into Sachiko, causing her to fling back in surprise. Then, he crashes his body right at Naho, sending both of them out of Kibiki as he sits up and gasps rapidly for air. The novelist then watches as the person manages to get up first and draws out the scissors, ready to fight the ghost girl who's extremely furious now. Naho is now on the ground, unconscious because of the impact of the slam and being out of Sachiko's control that her mind shuts down to protect itself.

"You… you stopped me too many times…" The ghost girl recognizes the person facing her. "Don't take my mercy for weakness. In the end, you will die…"

"Sachiko?" Everyone turns to the voice of the woman, to see Yoshie focusing on her daughter. "…Do you still recognize me?"

"…I do." The girl then grins madly. "Just wait, mother. I will give you more kids so you won't be lonely anymore…"

"Stop it, please." Yoshie's plead causes Sachiko's smile to falter a bit. "This isn't you. I can't see you doing this anymore…"

"…I'm doing everything for you, mother." Sachiko grunts. "Why don't you appreciate me?"

Kibiki watches the two exchanging words, and the further it goes, the worse the situation is. Yoshie urges her daughter to stop killing, but the girl's refusing to follow her mother's words. Then, the whole school starts shaking up as Sachiko's power builds up, and she's about to attack even her mother…

Only for her to stop when the wounded person raises a black cat plushie between the two females. He doesn't say a word, instead he slowly gives it to Yoshie, then gives her a nod and slowly backs away. Though, during that, the person grabs Naho and pulls her towards Kibiki, and gives him a look that says 'you hold her'. Kibiki awkwardly nods, as the person puts the girl into the novelist's arms and sits down next to him, watching the family dealing with their problems.

The family conversation then gets softer, as Yoshie reminds Sachiko of her birthday, and the fact she's going to give the plushie to her daughter. After that, Yoshie keeps bringing the good memories up, and slowly but surely, the power inside Sachiko starts to subdue, and she starts crying. And, when it's over, with 'I always love you' from Yoshie, Sachiko rushes towards her mother and gives her a tight hug, her tears falling down to the floor, quickly followed by Yoshie's own as well.

"S…Sensei?" Kibiki looks down to see the girl in his arms waking up. "W…What happened?"

Seeing the normal look in her eyes, Kibiki decides not to bring out the fact that she was trying to kill him earlier. "It's nothing, my girl."

The girl, while having many questions, decides to just nudge into his arms further while purring, causing him to chuckle a bit. She then looks towards and sees Sachiko hugging Yoshie. "I…Is that… Sachiko?"

"…She is." Kibiki replies. He then turns to his right… and the person has already left without a word. "Hm? Where is he?"

"Where is who?" Naho asks back.

"The one… I will tell you…"

*THUD!*

A huge noise outside of the Infirmary catches everyone's attention, including Sachiko and Yoshie. The ghost duo then looks around and sees Kibiki and Naho, but not the injured male. Yoshie immediately asks the novelist and his girl: "Have you two seen Kuro?"

"Uhm… He was just sitting with me…" He also looks around. "Maybe he's outside?"

"… His life force…" Sachiko then feels someone behind the closed door. "It's so faint…"

Naho questions in suspicion: "Who are you talking about?"

Instead of answering, Yoshie and Sachiko walk towards the exit, and the latter pulls the door open…

Revealing the person lying on the floor, trying to push himself up after his own fall. However, after what he has gone through… his arms can't support his body anymore, and he falls again, this time his mind shuts down for good.

Gasping in fear, Yoshie quickly flips him over to check if he's still alive or not… and sighs in relief when he's still breathing. However, based on Sachiko's statement earlier, he's still in danger. Quickly, she looks at her daughter, to see the young girl already having the same idea in mind. Sachiko uses her power to float Kuro's body up, as she leads him back into the Infirmary and towards the bed in the room.

Kibiki and Naho, already standing up, steps aside so the process could happen. They watch as the person's body lands on the bed softly, and the looks of concern on the ghosts' faces create confusion on the alive people. Cautiously, Kibiki asks Sachiko: "W…What are you doing to him?"

After the process, the ghost girl looks at Kibiki, then to Naho, and answers: "Giving him some respects. After all, he saved you by attacking your girl, thus saving her in the same time. Risking his own life for strangers…"

Naho pulls out a talisman and plans to use it on Sachiko, but Kibiki stops her. He then continues his question: "Why don't you just kill him, like you have done to the others?"

"Because…" Yoshie answers this time. "He knew what happened to us, and thus helping us regaining our humanity…"

Then, an earthquake suddenly happens, nearly making Kibiki and Naho lose their footing. And it also wakes up Kuro from his coma due to his own fear, but since he couldn't control his body that well, he falls off the bed and lands on the floor painfully. "_Ouch…"_ That's all he could whine.

That earthquake then ends abruptly like how it starts. Sachiko immediately re-uses her power and lifts Kuro back to the bed. Yoshie then asks in worry: "_Are you okay?"_

"…_Not much…"_ Kuro whines, while smiling painfully. He then asks back: "_So… are you two happy yet?"_

Sachiko nods. "_But, I have to praise for your own stupidity. I can't believe you would fight us that directly."_

"_Well… my plan was to knock out Naho, then deal with you later. Guess I underestimated your power."_ Kuro says, his smile turns into a small laugh. "_Anyway… I'm out. Do whatever you want to me."_

Sachiko crosses her arms and asks curiously: "_Oh? And what 'whatever' are you referring to?"_

"_Who knows what you're thinking now."_ Kuro nonchalantly says. "_Maybe a plan to torture me in my sleep for example."_

She immediately pouts. "_I do that many times, doesn't mean I do that EVERY time."_

"_Like I said, who knows…"_ Sachiko focuses a bit, and finally realizes the teasing tone despite him being still in immense pain. "_Goodnight."_ With that, he closes his eyes and starts sleeping for real.

Deciding to leave him alone, Yoshie turns back to Kibiki and Naho, who are looking at the event in surprise. "… You are having a lot of questions, right? We will answer them in his place."


	8. Chapter 8

Half an hour later

"…So my connections are correct…" Kibiki says to himself. "But, to think his own pride could drive the Principle to do such things…"

"To be fair…" Yoshie responds. "If I'm him… maybe I would do the same…"

During the time, Yoshie has told the reporters all about the story behind the Principle's covered-up story, and how his son became the 'killer'. With Sachiko helping her mother with the explanation, Kibiki and Naho have seen the full picture of how everything happened.

Then, everyone looks at the person in the bed, who's still sleeping due to the fatigue, just in time to see him nudging his head even closer to the pillow he's lying on. Naho asks uncertainly: "Is… is he really the person who managed to fight against Yoshikazu?" Because all she could see is just a big boy with a childish expression in his sleep.

"Well, believe it or not, he is. But, he hasn't won once." Sachiko answers. "Considering that he couldn't go for any attacks, but instead he looked for a way to defend and then escape."

"He knew that he has zero chances to win." Kibiki comments.

"It's correct." The child nods. They then see Kuro starting to munch on the pillow, which makes the living ones feel weird, and the ghosts feel worrying. "We should wake him before…"

She doesn't have to do so, because another earthquake occurs. Immediately Kuro's eyes snap open as he rolls out of the bed and grabs the nearest item he could see, which is conveniently the scissors, takes a one-knee-crouching position before looking around to see the group looking at him in surprise. The earthquake quickly dissipates, then Kuro sighs in relief as he puts the scissors on the bed while grabbing his head with his free hand. "_Damn, that's a rough wake up. How long have I been sleeping?"_

Snapping out of the shock state, Kibiki answers: "_Just half an hour. Are you okay?"_

Stretching his arms, Kuro replies: _"A little sore, but otherwise refreshed."_ That's not actually too convincing as he immediately yawns. Though that doesn't change his expression. "_Well, let's see if we can find the others… See you later, you all."_

"…_You can't be serious, right?"_ Just the moment his hand touches the door, Sachiko calls Kuro back. "_What's the point of doing all of this, if you would get nothing back in return?"_

Kuro stands there, looks up at the ceiling for a second, then replies: "_Do I really need something in return…eh, I guess not."_ Then, he opens the door and walks out of the Infirmary, continuing his search for survivors, temporarily ignoring the callings from Kibiki and Naho.

"You two should follow him now." Yoshie says. "Try to gather as many people as possible and prepare the ritual again. Get out of here as soon as possible."

Kibiki and Naho look at each other for a second, before Kibiki turns to the dead teacher and asks: "What about you all?"

"We're stuck here." Sachiko shakes his head. "Go."

It takes a few seconds of silence before Kibiki bows and says: "Sorry for what happened to you all." He then pulls Naho with him. "Let's go."

"…Yes, Sensei." Naho nods, then gives a small glare towards the ghosts before the two are out of the room.

"…Sachiko… I'm worried." Yoshie expresses her feelings.

"I know…He's already at Death's door…"

…

"_Wait a second, Kuro!"_ The boy stops for a second and looks back to see the two running to him. "_You shouldn't just run off like that! Who knows what you could stumble into?"_

"…" For a second, the blank look on Kuro's face worries the two. But then he smiles, washing the uneasy feeling away. "_Sorry. I guess I was too determined to do my work."_ He then turns back and looks into the darkness of the school hall. "_Right now… right, where are they…"_

"_Where are who?"_ Naho asks.

"_Students from a high school. We were trying to find the timeline where their friends were still alive and pull them to the current timeline to save them."_ Kuro explains. "_Well… it's going to be a little hard to pull off…"_

"_Why?"_ They start walking towards, with Kibiki asking the question.

"_Their friends' deaths… are caused by another friend of them."_ Kuro reveals. "_While I have killed him once, there's no way to be sure that he's also dead in the new timeline."_

"…_Why are you so calm when you talked about killing a person like that?"_ Naho starts questioning Kuro's mentality. It seems the person in front of her has some sorts of brain disordering…

"_Why do I have to sympathize with a monster?"_ Kuro's cold response with a deadly glare temporarily stuns the two. His normal speech then returns shortly as his eyes soften. "_Anyway, I would like to avoid that and focus on saving the people that deserve to live longer."_

The reporters walk slower so they could be far enough to not be heard. Naho then whispers to Kibiki: "We should take cautious against him. Who knows when he would turn against us?"

"…I hate to agree, but you're right." Kibiki whispers back. Considering that even a medium like Naho could be succumbed to darkness…

Then, they watch as Kuro stumbles into a piece of wood, comically trying to keep his balance, then he just walks off with a childishly annoyed look on his face. That small moment makes the two, for a moment, feel uncertain about their thinking just now.

* * *

All fails into silence as they connect the dots between Kibiki's story and what they have read from Naho's online blog. Most of them are angry at how Naho saw everyone's life as 'experiments' so Kibiki could 'have a scoop' and also at the man himself. Some, however, could understand that this is not what Kibiki wanted.

The novelist then bows down apologetically. "Please forgive her 'attitude' towards you all. I will hold responsibility for…"

"It's not your fault, Kibiki." Yui interrupts. "Naho is the one at fault. She needs to see that, and we want you to tell her directly that."

"I… will manage…"

Seeing the heavy atmosphere, Taguchi then tries to deter it to a better conversation: "Hey, Boss. Do you think we could use the ritual again?"

Looking up, Kibiki tries to feel the air… "It's… I'm not very sure, but I feel the air being lighter… even more than when we first entered here…"

"But we haven't found everyone yet." Sayaka says. "And I couldn't return without Naho…"

"Me as well…" Taguchi scratches his head. "I forgot that…"

Suddenly the ceiling gives in and something drops right at the corner far inside the room and crashes the TV, making everyone jump in surprise. The boys immediately pull the girls to the door, while they stand in front and prepare to fight whatever just went down…

Only for a few familiar coughs to drop their guards as, when the smoke is clear, they see the alive Kibiki, Naho and Kuro lying on the floor. Kuro is the first to stand up and pull the two up. "_I swear, this has becoming a trope or something…"_ Then he turns to see the students gaping at his 'entrance'. "_…Well then, guess I'm back to the right reality."_

…

"_What do you mean we can't use the ritual yet?_" Ayumi asks in confusion. "_I thought you have talked with Sachiko about the matter?_"

"_It's very hard to forgive someone who did an injustice on you."_ Kuro answers. "_Right now, she has only agreed about not killing more people. However… we are still in some dangers. Namely, the Principle himself."_

"How could he be a danger?" Yoshiki is not understanding the logic. "I mean, yeah, he's already dead. But…surely you could try to talk to him, right?"

"_And one of the ends could be me being killed by him."_ That drops the room into silence. "_We need to be extra careful to deal with the matter. Of course, you can try on your own, but don't step on the edge of the roof or something."_ Seeing that no one answers, Kuro stands up again and waves his hands. "_Well, I think you guys are all here, so try to stick together. I'm going to find my friends now."_

"You haven't found them yet?" Nana asks in disbelief.

"_I saw some messages from them scattering around. I could make work for that."_ Kuro responds and heads to the door…

"_Good luck finding them on your own, Kuro."_ Taguchi suddenly says, his voice devoid of actually emotions.

"…_Thanks."_ Kuro sighs, and heads out, leaving the group who's thanking him for helping them.

"_Wait." _Sayaka stops him again, and when he turns back, she pushes her hand towards his chest. He's a little surprised, and then he finds something in her palm, causing him to immediately grab the object when her hand leaves him. "_Good luck."_

Holding it in his hand, Kuro immediately recognizes what it is, and when he looks at Sayaka's sad eyes, he knows that he's busted. "…_Thanks."_ But, that doesn't mean he can stay with them. Patting her shoulder once, he turns and heads into the darkness, waving his injured hand back for a goodbye.

Moment passes, and Naho slightly nudges her friend and jokes: "Wow Sayaka, already ditching Haruyuki and finding a new guy? I didn't think you would…"

"Why?" Sayaka's hiccup stops Naho from teasing her. And, in a swift, the girl hugs her friend while crying out loud. "How could we be deserved to have a person like him help us!? HOW COULD WE EVEN PAY HIM BACK FOR WHAT HE HAS DONE FOR US!?"

That outburst makes everyone focus at the duo, as Sayaka starts talking about them should not be alive. Satoshi then whispers to Yoshiki: "Kishinuma…how long are those you together?"

"I doubt it's that long for her to react like that." The blond hair boy then notices Yui's grimacing face. "Yui-sensei? What's wrong?" And then he also sees Taguchi biting his lower lip in frustration. "Okay… this is weird… can you tell us what's going on?"

"I never saw that side of her…" On the other side, Kibiki whispers to Taguchi. "And… you too?"

"It's… something we can't tell you yet." Taguchi says, regretting to not stop Kuro going out on his own. "Nevertheless, if to help, maybe we should do ourselves a favor and find our own friends while he opens the way out of this school."

…

'Vay la Sayaka va Taguchi da biet su that… Hope they won't do anything stupid.' Thinking to himself, Kuro reaches the door that leads to the bridge between the two Wings. Placing his hands on the doors, he takes a moment to let his true emotion cause through his body: fear.

Fear to die.

Fear that he couldn't save someone.

Fear that he might fall to darkness and kill everyone.

Falling to his knees, Kuro breathes in and out at haste, never be able to be used to the atmosphere. His eyes start tearing as well, the feeling of missing his family is overwhelming for a moment. Not caring if there are anyone around him, he takes around a full minute to whimper, before his breath turns to normal, he stands up and steels his expression before returning to his journey…

Peeking from a corner, the three kid ghosts watch the event going with worry written on their faces. Currently, they have already felt the dread from him, but then they felt something else haunting him, even though they don't know what that is. For now, they could only watch from distance, while wishing him good luck.

* * *

Entering Second Wing, he looks left to see it being a clear way to walk. The earthquake then returns, but this time Kuro decides to just simply ignore it and walk to the direction of interest…

When he sees a blue dot and another red one looking straight at him… and once it gets closer…

"…_Give me…a break…"_

…

"What was that?" Kai Shimada asks Kizami, as the two are standing in the exit of the Second Wing and were glaring at each other before they hear running steps from another hallway.

"…No idea." The stoic boy replies. "But, could be someone who is still alive."

"Hm… how come haven't we found that person sooner?"

"The building is bigger than we thought then…"

Then, someone runs out of the darkness, his right hand holding a pair of bloody scissors. The person then looks into the darkness and slowly backs away from it, his weapon in his grip, waiting for something… and then a girl in a white uniform emerges from shadow with a predator look that focuses entirely on the boy.

The two then watch as the girl lashes on the boy, and he responds by stepping aside with his right arm going around the neck of the girl and starting to choke the girl with his arms. The girl tries to break free, but the boy proves to be more endurance as her elbow hits don't work too well.

The two decide to take actions as they run towards the fight… only for the boy to suddenly push the girl towards Kai with his left arm… and during the movement of the right arm, stab Kizami in the neck much to his surprise, and then a pull and a last stab right through Kizami's right temple. Kai and the girl fall to the ground, as Kai gets up only to see the damage already done. Kizami's dead body falls to the ground, and the boy pulls out the scissors then looks at him with a cold glare. Scared by the eyes, Kai books it and runs to where Tohko has ran off before…

Only he doesn't find the girl at all, and instead he finds the injured Katayama by himself. The poor boy then asks the other in surprise: "Kai? Where's everyone?"

Due to how scared he is currently, Kai couldn't open his mouth yet…

"KATAYAMA!" To their surprises, the rest of the boys of their group appear from the other way, as Kensuke immediately goes to check his legs. "Are you alright?"

The injured boy coughs once before answering: "Not too good, but still alive… How?"

"How what?" Kensuke asks back.

"How… Ohkawa just vanished in front of me…" Katayama points at the boy in question with a small fear in his voice.

"Oh… We will answer you later. For now, let's get to the exit…" Ohkawa says, as he and Fukuroi grab each of his shoulder and bring him up…

"Wait wait!" Kai speaks up, drawing everyone's attention. "There's a killer around here! We can't just use the exit!"

Kensuke widens his eyes in surprise. "A killer? You mean a big guy with a hammer?"

"No! A guy with scissors wearing a black coat!"

However, the moment that info comes out… Kensuke and Ohkawa look at each other, and then sigh in relief, much to everyone's surprise. Then, the former replies: "Then we actually have nothing to worry about. Let's find him and the exit!"

"You can't be serious!" Kai is extremely surprised at his sudden bravery. "I saw him killed Kizami just now!"

That makes Ohkawa's expression darken. But, before he could say anything, Fukuroi interjects: "Just point us to there."

"…Damn it!" Kai grits his teeth. "If you want to die, just go and…"

"You're coming with us." Kensuke orders. "The girls are saved, so right now we need you with us so we could return."

"…What? You found the way to escape this place? I thought that the exit is…"

"It's more complicated."

The group then slowly heads to the exit of the Second Wing… and just before they walk through a door frame, they smell something burning. They head in, and see the 'killer' sitting next to a burning corpse, and the girl's body is lying next to him, unconscious. The 'killer' appears to have his eyes closed.

Kai pulls out his knife and plans to kill him, but Kensuke sees it and stops him. "Don't. He won't hurt us."

"Are you out of your mind? I saw him attacking that girl before he killed Kizami!"

The outburst from Kai causes the 'killer' to open his eyes and look directly at the group. Kai gasps in surprise and backs away, but Ohkawa greets him: "_Hey, Kuro! Are you okay?"_

"…_Exhausted."_ Kuro replies with a painful smile. "_This girl sure is strong."_

Katayama then asks Fukuroi: "Hey, why is Ohkawa speaking English?"

The megane replies: "Apparently that guy doesn't know Japanese."

The two English-speakers then exchange more words, before Kensuke walks to the corpse and sees who it is. "…Kizami…"

Kai then shouts to Kensuke: "Hey! Should we just kill the guy and walk off? He killed your friend there!"

"…After what I heard from Ohkawa, I stopped considering Kizami our friends." Kensuke replies back, surprising Kai.

"Guys…" After done talking with Kuro, Ohkawa calls the duo. "Let's get to the First Wing. Emi's group is there with a few more groups of survivors."

"That's great!" Kensuke says happily. Then he notices Kuro doesn't move. "What about Kuro?"

"He's staying here. Saying that he's still having something to do in this building." Ohkawa explains. He then turns to Kuro and says: _"We're leaving now. Take care of yourself."_

"_To you too."_ Kuro replies with a smile and waves his hand to the boys.

The group, except Kai, bows slightly and gets out of the building and heads into the bridge. Kai then asks Ohkawa: "Hey, what about the girl?"

"Kuro said that he needs to keep a watch on her. He's keeping her with him until he's sure that she's purged out of the possession. And that's why she attacked him and he had to respond."

…

Azusa wakes up with a massive headache and pain around her neck. She opens her eyes to see the ceiling of the school, and feels her back lying on the floor. Sitting up, she feels a presence to her left, as she turns to see a person lying next to her, his eyes closing. She then sees a corpse not far away and grimaces. She then plans to stand up… only for the person to suddenly open his eyes and grab her left hand with his injured right, causing her to try to pull back to no avail.

The person sits up, and they lock eyes for a few seconds… before he sighs and releases her hand. Pulling her hand back, Azusa backs away slowly… "_Don't go too far. I don't want to get chased by you again."_ She blinks, as it takes a few seconds to her to recognize the person just talked to her in English.

Taking another to compose herself, she asks back: "_Who are you? And how did you get here?"_

"_The name's Kuro. My friends and I caught a glimpse of the situation of this school, so we performed the Sachiko Charm incorrectly to get in here."_

"…_It's similar to ours. But… how could it fail? We did everything correctly…"_

"_Fate could be a troll sometimes."_ Kuro simply replies. Then, he stands up and rubs the dust out of his outfit. "_Do you have any ideas where your friends are?"_

"…_I'm not so sure…"_ Azusa hesitantly answers.

"_Hm…it's going to be hard… how many of yours?"_

"…_Four."_

"…_Okay. We shouldn't separate at this point. Traps could be anywhere."_

* * *

"ARE YOU SERIOUS?" Yoshiki punches the wall next to him in anger. "ALL OF THEM ARE LIES? HE DIDN'T TRUST US IN THE BEGINNING?"

"Kishinuma, calm down." Satoshi tries to talk him down. "Maybe he has another reason to…"

"REASON? WHAT REASON? HE SOMEHOW FOUND HIS OWN WAY IN HERE! HE COULD JUST TELL US HOW AND WE COULD FIND OUR OWN EXIT! HE IS LITERALLY A STRANGER TO US ALL!"

After the groups have separated, Yui has told her group about her conversation with the ghosts of the kids. And needless to say, everyone is surprised, feeling sad and angry at how reckless their 'helper' is doing. The last part mostly is for the blond boy.

"But, what is the benefit in his work?" Ayumi is trying to find the logic. "If he wanted to survive, he would just stick to one group, and try to save the others normally. He has no skills of a survivor, and yet he kept pushing into danger without any preparations…"

"Despite that, he knew exactly who is friendly, and who is dangerous." Seiko recalls the fight between him and the Darkening ghost teacher. "The fight in the Infirmary. The teacher was exactly a threat, and yet he still could see through it…"

"And calming down Sachiko as well." Naomi adds. "If our existence could be wiped out of the real world, how come could he still point out the abnormal points?"

Picking up another name tag, Sakutaro replies: "Currently, it doesn't matter. Right now, we need to wait for the opportunity and grab him and then escape out of this school."

Mayu then sees Yuki walking to them as she greets her: "Oh hey, Yuki! Can we ask you something?"

The one-eye girl nods. Naomi immediately asks first: "Can you tell us why Kuro hid everything about him to us?"

"…It's a difficult question, sis." Yuki reluctantly answers. "But, we could think of a few things. First, about his name… it's actually that hard to pronounce. We did a small peak at his Student ID… and we can't read anything, despite them having English alphabet in it."

"Well, we can see why." Seiko scratches her head. "What of the others?"

"…How he knew about how to deal with us… We have no idea." The ghost admits. Then she remembers: "Everyone, since you knew about his conditions… can you try to keep him to one of your groups? We fear that he might die really soon…"

"He's doing too well." Yoshiki grits his teeth. "The ones that need help here are us!"

"No, he's not." Yuki shakes her head. "What you saw was only the face he 'wants' you to know about him. We followed him, and we saw him breaking down once shortly after he left you. He's not as strong as you thought he would be."

"…I see." Satoshi is next. "About Sachiko's condition… should we find a way to appease her ourselves?"

"Currently she and her mother are with each other, both have escaped the Darkening. But, she still has some grudges against the Principle…"

"And that's what Kuro is doing." Ayumi realizes. "Should we head to the Second Wing and find the person?"

"…I suggest you not. But, if you think you can do it… I wish you all good luck." With that the ghost girl disappears.

"We should be the one doing it." Satoshi decides. "Kuro has done too many things for us, now it's time for us to pay him back."


	9. Chapter 9

Hours later…

The pain returns, and Kuro tiredly opens his eyes to see where he is. The same window of Heavenly Host… the outside is raining nonstop. He's leaning against a wall in a sitting position, his hands are placing on his straightened legs. Slightly turning his head to the right, he sees the bloody scissors lying on the floor, a little far away from his reach. He wants to grab it, but right now, he can't even move his fingers. None of his body parts are responding to his command, his body stays the same no matter how he tries to move. Only his head is still 'alive', as he looks down to see his bandaged hand, which is covered in dried blood of him… and the blood of Kentaro Oshio when he punched him to the face to temporarily stop the Darkening before Azusa could force the Holy Water into his mouth to purge the possession.

"…_Their group is now saved…"_ Kuro says to himself after he remembered his success. He then tries to move one more, and this time his body collapses to the right, forcing him to let out a grunt of pain. His vision starts to blur, but due to the sudden shock, he's able to move his left hand, as he grabs the scissors. With the last bits of adrenaline, he barely pushes himself off the ground, and he leans his body on the wall to support his walk. "_But then… another drop…" _He says to himself, before starting to walk forward, heading into the darkness of the school. "_No matter…"_

Walking to an intersection, he turns to the right to see a bunch of strings blocking the way. Sighing in frustration, Kuro weakly raises the scissors and slowly cuts them down… only to stop at the third one due to his shaking hand dropping the scissors. "…_No…energy…"_ With his last words, Kuro drops on his back, his world turns dark again…

* * *

"Eh…do those count as parts of the ensemble too?" Yoshiki asks Morishige, as he gazes over the cat ears sitting on the table.

"You should bring them. We might not be able to continue without them." The megane suggests as he heads to the exit.

"Hm…maybe you're right." Yoshiki agrees, and he returns back to the table with the cat ears.

"Okay. I will go ahead…" However, when he pokes his head out of the door and looks at his left, he sees something on the ground. And thanks to the body, he also finds out the strings on the air. "Hey, Yoshiki. Come quick."

"What is it?" Having grabbed the ears, the blond-hair boy walks to his friend. Morishige points out of the door, and he pokes his head out. "…Wait, is that…somebody…"

"Be careful. Those strings look sharp." Walking out of the classroom, the megane warns. Yoshiki nods and slowly walks towards the body, kneels down and grabs the scissors, then starts cutting down the strings. Once he confirms that there's no strings left, he walks over the body. "…Hey, Morishige… is this some sort of test?"

"I…don't think so…" The megane walks to the body, then reaches his hand to the person's head… only to retreat back. "Not good. He's having a fever."

"Uh…Morishige… how about we just leave him here for now, and finish this before…"

"And let him die?" Morishige interjects. He then looks at the ceiling, where he assumes there's a camera, and calls: "Hey Sachiko, can we go back and then continue later?"

"Hm… are you sure?" The voice of the ghost girl asks back. "I mean, you're a little closer to the goal…"

"…Yes, we are returning." Morishige answers, this time with certainty.

"Wait a second." Yoshiki stops him. "About the goal…"

"There's a chance that, if we win, we would be out instantly and not be able to get him out." Morishige then checks person's pulse on his neck. "And he's extremely weak. He might die anytime."

Yoshiki scratches his head in annoyance. While he wants to escape with Ayumi, that doesn't mean he could just ignore someone in need of help. "Fine then. If that ghost girl allows it, then we have no reasons to ignore it."

"Good." The two then grab the person's arms and throw them over their shoulders, and start heading back to where they have started the trial.

…

"Hm…" Sachiko crosses her arms in annoyance and curiosity. Since the two boys have disobeyed her instructions, she has called out those strings to cut them down. But, that dying man just ruined her plan. Although… for some reasons, she couldn't hate the person for doing so. She then watches the duo carrying the man back…

She then hears the zombie teacher grunting behind her. Though she understands it. "You didn't know him, huh? Guess he's one of the newest ones then…"

'…He's the one saving us.'

"Huh?" Turning around, Sachiko turns around to see who just said that, but she sees that everyone's focusing on the TV. Deciding to dismiss it for now, she looks at the exit door just to see the boys bringing the man inside. Some of the students and the teacher from Kisaragi School gather around them as the boys slowly lie the body down, as the teacher starts checking for his current situation…

"This is not good…" Yui says. "He's dehydrated. Any of you have water or so?" The students shake their heads sadly. She then starts checking his pockets, and finds out a piece of chocolate wrapped in a piece of silver paper. "Better than nothing." She then pushes the chocolate piece into his mouth, but the man doesn't seem to recognize the thing in his mouth. "Hey, hey!" Yui starts to panic, as she puts her hands on his cheek and tries to shake his head to wake him. "Hey, wake up!"

'…Save him…'

'Okay, what the hell was that?' Keeping trying to find voice, Sachiko looks again, only to find no one. 'Serious, this is getting annoying…'

Thankfully, a few seconds later, the person's mouth starts moving… and he starts crushing the chocolate then swallows it… and a few seconds later, he laughs, startling the students. Then he opens his eyes and looks at everyone and smiles. "_…Damn…that's close…"_

Seeing the man managing to get out of the danger, for now, the students from Kisaragi sigh in relief, as Yui re-checks his pulse. The man plans to sit up, but she holds him in place. "You can't stand up now. You're too weak."

"…_Guess I have to do so then. Thank you Yui."_ The man chuckles again and lies back down.

"Um…what did he just say?" Naomi, not understanding English too well, asks Ayumi.

"He… just thanked miss Yui…" Ayumi answers. "But, why did he say that in English?"

"Maybe he's a foreigner." Satoshi guesses.

"_Hey…_" The man then turns his head to Yoshiki. "_Can you… return… the scissors?"_

"Oh…Okay." After hearing the translation from Ayumi, the blond-hair boy does so, earning a thankful nod from the man. "This is going to be hard…"

"Brother…" Yuka nudges Satoshi's arm. "Have we…seen him somewhere?"

"I…I'm not sure…" Satoshi answers. "But… I do feel like so…"

"_By the way…Happy birthday, Sachiko."_ Despite being in pain, the man still manages to say his wish to the ghost.

A little surprised, Sachiko then smiles. "_Well thanks for the wish… Hey, what's your name?"_

Coughing twice, the man answers: "_It's…Kuro…"_

At that moment, something clicks in Sachiko's mind…

* * *

'You're planning to fight me? You really expect that you could overcome me?'

'You are… planning to 'save' me?'

'_I could help you atoning.'_

'_What's the point of doing all of this, if you would get nothing back in return?'_

'…_Eh, I guess not.'_

* * *

"…" Memories of her encounter with him… how he managed to avoid deaths a few times… how he knew about her… how he's planning to sacrifice himself to get everyone out…

"_What's…with that face?" _Kuro tries to joke, but ends up coughing again.

"Just rest, would you?" Yui sighs at the man's antic. "You're on the edge of dying, and yet…"

"Here..." Turning back, Yui is surprised to see Sachiko materializing a bottle of water and giving it to her. "Keep him alive. It's my birthday, and I don't want a person like him to die. I need him for my entertainment."

Slightly…disturbed by the sudden generosity, Yui pushes the feeling away and takes the bottle. "Thank you." She then opens the cap and gets Kuro what he needs.

"What… a sudden change of character…" Aiko Niwa is a little surprised by the event. Her statement is all agreed by everyone else. "But, I guess it's better than her going ballistic…"

"_Thanks…again."_ Kuro raises a thumb up to the air. "_Sorry… for no presents…" _Then, the hand drops harshly to the floor, creating a noise. Everyone startles, but relaxes when they hear his snore.

"Geez, he surely scares a lot of us there." Naomi comments.

"…Alright!" Sachiko changes back to her 'cheerful' self. "Hey, Yoshiki, Morishige. Are you two going to continue the race?"

"Ah, right! I almost forgot!" That's the blond-hair boy's response.

…

Time skip

Kuro snorts once, and then he smells the air being drastically different. Upon his mind waking up, he feels his body being in a sitting position while leaning on a wall. He slowly opens his right eye… and nearly regrets it due to the bright light flashing right at him. Grunting, he raises his arm up to block the light…

"_You have awakened, huh?"_ Slightly turning his head to the left, he sees Sachiko's shockingly face close to his, causing him to nearly swing his scissors right at her face if he doesn't see her 'innocence' eyes.

"…_Geez, you scared me."_ Sighing, he tries to control his heart rate… and his stomach growls. A moment of silence, then he chuckles. "_Guess that won't be enough, huh…"_

"_You have gone around the school for a day without food. That's to be expected." _The ghost girl calmly explains.

"…_How did you…"_

"_Don't mind it too much. Stand up."_ By saying so, she pulls him off the ground and then to one of the tables. Having no strength to resist her, he lets his body follow whatever she wants to do on him. Then, she puts him in a chair next to Satoshi, who waves his hand to greet him and Kuro returns the gesture, and Sachiko sits in another chair next to him. "_You're going to be the last judge for the contest."_

"_Contest?"_ Kuro plans to ask more, but then the smell of the food gives him the hint. "_Cooking?"_

"_Yeah."_

"…_You KNOW I'm going to be bias here, since I'm hungry, right?"_ She simply points her finger to Yoshikazu, who grunts in return. "_…He's the same too, huh?"_

"_Don't worry. At least, this is my thanks to help you from now on."_

"…_So, you know about…"_ He receives a nod. "_Well, my thanks for keeping me alive."_

After a few more minutes of waiting, the food has been bringing out… and Kuro has to stop himself from facepalming when he sees one of the dishes. He could make a guess that the first ones are salad, but… '_…The nay thi tao cung chiu. Cai ong Kizami dien khung nay…' _Despite that, he decides to take one VERY SMALL bite… and forces himself to not throw up immediately. '_That…bastard…'_

"IT'S TIME TO SCORE THIS DISH!" The MC Ghost announces.

He immediately raises a zero for the dish. Other judges look at him in surprise, and he sends a glare back with a message that 'don't question it'. They decide not to comment vocally.

The next dish is from Naomi, which is Tofu Salad. At least it looks normal... and tastes normal. A little too salty, but edible. He gives it a six.

For Yoshiki, it's… 'frozen salads'. That's NOT something he would do, but… it's actually his kind of food. Seven it goes for Yoshiki.

For Yui… no escaping this one. Zero.

For Urabe… unfortunately, he has zero counters for her logic. Still, eight, since it's in a pot.

After that, the lowest score belongs to Yui… and Kuro immediately closes his eyes and ears to NOT remember about the scene. Only when he THINKS Sachiko is done, would he stop doing so.

When the MC announces the second round, and the chefs return to the kitchen, Sachiko turns and asks cheekily: "_Horrified of what happened to her?"_

Kuro sighs. "_Obviously. So, the next one is…"_

"_Soup."_

"…_Wait. Soup?" _Kuro rubs his nose bridge to remember… "_Ah, right. Forget that I'm in Japan."_

"_Culture differences, huh?"_ The ghost girl earns a nod as confirmation.

"_Just curiosity…"_ The MC suddenly asks Kuro. "_How did you get in here? I mean, Lady Sachiko can only bring the people who performed…"_

"I did bring him here." Sachiko answers in Kuro's place. "Though, it's more of 'another me'."

"Oh…" The ghosts nod.

"Um…what are you talking about?" Satoshi enters the conversation.

"Ah, it's nothing for you to worry, Satoshi bro. Just enjoy the event." Sachiko smiles at him.

…

And, the result this time:

Kizami… not even going to touch it. Zero.

Naomi, with her sweet red bean soup… not exactly his type, but he won't complain. Five.

Urabe, with her caterpillar fungus poultry soup…she's nailing the contest isn't she? Ten.

Though, at this part, Satoshi and Naomi are surprised at Kuro's zero-hesitation in eating the soup even after hearing the explanation. So the latter asks him: "Uh, Kuro, do you know WHAT that is?"

"_We eat living weevils."_ He simply answers back, nearly shocking the alive people. "_…And since WHEN can you guys understand me?"_ He then notices that the moment he says that, people react immediately.

"_Ah that's me."_ Sachiko answers.

"_Oh."_

For Yoshiki… unfortunately, what could happen, will happen.

…

After his punishment, Sachiko then says that she's bored, and she changes the location and the rules. Kuro, after having some food, is currently okay enough to be on his feet. He decides to just stand out and watches from afar for a while…

"_Thank you for helping us, Kuro._" Turning to his right, he sees Yoshie Shinozaki walking to him. "_If it wasn't for your help, maybe my daughter won't remember about this at all."_

"_Ah, it's nothing."_ Kuro smiles back. He then looks at Sachiko. "_But… may I ask HOW this happens?"_

'_It's…me…'_ Kuro blinks, then turns his head around to see who just said that, and ends up with nothing.

"_What's wrong?"_ Yoshie asks in worry.

"_It's…nothing."_ Kuro answers. However, reminding the strange answer… '_The Queen?'_ There's no mistakes. That voice could only belong to her. But… why? Even IF she sees him on her side… wouldn't it benefit her better for him to die? Shaking his head to clear his thought, he then says to Yoshie: "_Well, I'm still hungry. Want to head to Naomi's tent first?"_

The teacher nods, and the two take their first stop as intended, then to Urabe's. Yoshie plans to go to Kizami's, but he holds her back since he knew WTH he's planning to do, and he's NOT going to give him any benefits.

Thankfully, there's not much for him to do since the event solves by itself. That doesn't stop him from taking a couple more plates of food, though.

After that, the last 1v1 comes up, and everyone starts helping the main chefs…

"_Wouldn't you help them?"_ Sachiko asks curiously.

"_Hm…maybe I will, but only in the taste. Can't let them turn the food into seawater." _Kuro jokes, followed by her giggle.

…

"Kuro?" Naomi is surprised to see the man walking to them. "We haven't finished…"

"_Don't worry."_ He interrupts. "_I'm here to check how you're doing. So, what are you planning?"_

"Wow, you know how to cook?" Seiko asks hopefully.

Unfortunately, he shakes his head. "_I have no places for a contest like this. But, I can tell if a dish is okay or not. My taste bud is on par."_

"Well that's enough." Naomi sighs.

"_I was planning to check both of you, so it would be fair. But…"_ Turning his head to Urabe, Kuro chuckles. "_I doubt I could enter her mind."_

"It's good to get help!" Satoshi says in relief.

"_So…yeah. Naomi, what will you make?"_ Kuro decides to ask.

"Um…chocolate, maybe?" Naomi is uncertain. "I mean, we have too many kinds of food today, so I thought it would be okay for a dessert. Besides, what kid doesn't like chocolate?"

"…_Good point."_ Since it doesn't affect too much of what's coming up next, Kuro rolls with it.

And…obviously, that's a bust. Including the rice balls. And not even Urabe's food works.

"What should I do?" Naomi is now anxious. "This is not going to end well…" Suddenly she hears Kuro chuckling. "Wh…What's so funny?"

"_Well… My work here is done, I'm afraid."_ Grabbing the rice balls for himself, he then gives out the last hint. "_Remember the rule. It will help you._"

Walking out of the place, Kuro takes a bite from one ball, then walks to Sachiko and gives one to her, but she declines. Shrugging, he keeps eating… until Sachiko says: "_You know how it would end, right?"_

"_I mean, isn't that obvious?"_ The man chuckles…then, he asks: "_So…after this… do I have to run from you?"_

"_I won't kill you. But that doesn't mean I will help you with your work."_

"_Fine by me. Well, let's just enjoy this day first before thinking further."_

* * *

**Chapter 9 end!**

**If you expected him to run around for six months without food, then you're so mistaken.**

**So yeah, I was planning to get something dark...and ended up with this light-heart chapter. Maybe the next chapter would still be like this.**

**See you all in the next chapters!**


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